| Summary: | Recent developments in carbon nanotube technology have allowed for semi-transparent electrodes to be created which can possibly improve the efficiency of solar cells. A method for simulating the use of semi-transparent carbon nanotube networks as a charge collector for solar cells in Silvaco ATLAS software is presented in this thesis. Semi-transparent carbon nanotube networks allow for a greater area of charge collection on the surface of solar cells as well as a lower resistance path for charge carriers to travel to the top contact grid lines. These properties can decrease the required area of a solar cell covered by metal contacts, allowing a greater amount of light input. The metal contacts which transport charge carriers to the edge of the device can also be made thicker and more spread out, lowering the resistance in the metal gridlines of solar cells. The model for semi-transparent carbon nanotube networks presented in this thesis is incorporated into a solar cell which is simulated in Silvaco ATLAS software. The performance of a cell with and without the carbon nanotube network is compared, taking into account the limitations of the simulation software.
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