Computational Simulations of Nanostructured Solar Cells

Simulation methods are vital to the development of next-generation solar cells such as plasmonic, organic, nanophotonic, and semiconductor nanostructure solar cells. Simulations are predictive of material properties such that they may be used to rapidly screen new materials and understand the physical mechanisms of enhanced performance. They can be used to guide experiments or to help understand results obtained in experiments. In this paper, we review simulation methods for modeling the classical optical and electronic transport properties of nanostructured solar cells. We discuss different techniques for light trapping with an emphasis on silicon nanostructures and silicon thin films integrated with nanophotonics and plasmonics.