Cr-MIS solar cells using thin epitaxial silicon grown on poly-silicon substrates

Cr-MIS solar cells were fabricated on 18-30 µm epitaxial-Si layers grown on poly-Si substrates. Solar conversion efficiency values ranged from an average of 8.8% to 4.0% depending on choice of substrate. Nonuniformity of certain substrates led to low efficiency values. Interface state density > 5 × 10¹²/cm²-eV contributed to low Vocand high n-factor. Low minority carrier diffusion length caused Jscto drop to 60% of the optimum value. Substrates with imperfections caused an increase in dark current density by three orders of magnitude, which served to decrease photovoltaic response. The procedures given herein could lead to a low-cost solar cell for terrestrial applications.     

Low-cost back contact silicon solar cells

Back-contacted solar cells offer multiple advantages in regard of reducing module assembling costs and avoiding grid shadowing losses. The investigated emitter-wrap-through (EWT) device design has an electrical connection of the front emitter and the rear emitter grid in form of small holes drilled into the crystalline silicon wafer. The obtained cell structure is especially suitable for low-cost base material with small minority carrier diffusion lengths. Different industrially applicable solar cell manufacturing processes for EWT devices are described and compared. The latest experimental results are presented and interpreted; the photocurrent is found to be distinctly increased. The relation between open circuit voltage and rear side passivation is discussed based on two-dimensional (2-D) computer simulations     

Improvement of hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium thin film solar cells by different p-type contact layer

In this study, we report an appreciably increased efficiency from 6% up to 9.1% of hydrogenated amorphous silicon germanium (a-SiGe:H) thin film solar cells by using a combination of different p-doped window layers, such as boron doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (p-a-Si:H), amorphous silicon oxide (p-a-SiO_x:H), microcrystalline silicon (p-µc-Si:H), and microcrystalline silicon oxide (p-µc-SiO_x:H). Optoelectronic properties and the role of these p-layers in the enhancement of a-SiGe:H cell efficiency were also examined and discussed. An improvement of 1.62 mA/cm² in the short-circuit current density (J_sc) is attributed to the higher band gap of p-type silicon oxide layers. In addition, an increase in open-circuit voltage (V_oc) by 150 mV and fill factor (FF) by 6.93% is ascribed to significantly improved front TCO/p-layer interface contact.     

Increased photogeneration in thin silicon concentrator solar cells

Recent progress in silicon concentrator solar cells has resulted in several designs capable of 25-percent efficiency with one group reporting 28 percent under 14 W/cm²of incident power at 25°C. It has been shown that further improvement is possible by restricting the sunlight acceptance angle of the cell. In this letter, a practical implementation which is equivalent in its effect is proposed which results in an increased utilization of weakly absorbed near-bandgap light. This increased absorption is obtained by placing the cells in a cavity with a small entrance aperture. An analysis is given based upon work on the acceptance angle enhancements by Campbell and Green. The design is expected to improve the efficiencies of existing solar cells to 30 percent. If used in conjunction with previously proposed cell improvements, the efficiencies will be improved towards 33 percent, very near the limit efficiency of 36 percent. This design also has the effect of decreasing the differences in performance between the leading candidate concentrator cell designs and diminishing the dependence of the efficiencies on the cell texturization and bulk carrier lifetimes.     

Performance of front contact silicon solar cells under concentration

The first realization of a new type of silicon solar cell intended for operation at very high concentration, with all the contacts at its front face, is presented. Although the efficiencies achieved are not outstanding, the feasibility of the structure is proven by the fabrication of several thousands of cells with similar performance. Modeling has evidenced the main routes for improvement. Efficiencies close to 25% for a range of efficiencies from 80 to 560 suns are predicted as achievable for cells with state‐of‐the‐art technology and appropriate layout. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

p-Layer bandgap engineering for high efficiency thin film silicon solar cells

Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical transmittance measurements were used to study and establish a correlation between the open-circuit voltage (V_oc) of solar cells and the p-layer optical band gap (E_p). It is found that the ellipsometry measurement can be used as an inline non-destructive diagnostic tool for p-layer deposition in commercial operation. The analysis of ellipsometric spectra, together with the optical transmittance data, shows that the best p-layer appears to be very fine nanocrystallites with an E_p 1.95 eV. HRTEM measurements reveal that the best p-layer is composed of nanocrystallites ~9 nm in size. It is also found that the p-layer exhibits very good transmittance, as high as ~91.6% at ~650 nm. These results have guided us to achieve high V_oc value 1.03 V for thin film silicon based single junction solar cell.     

n-Doped-layer free amorphous silicon thin film solar cells fabricated with the CuMg alloy as back contact metal

The feasibility of using CuMg alloy as back contact metal for n⁺-doped-layer free a-Si:H thin film solar cell (TFSC) has been investigated in this work. The ohmic-contact characteristic has been achieved by using the CuMg alloy as back contact metal. The proposed structure showed the typical solar cell current-voltage (I-V) characteristic. An initial efficiency of 4.3% has been obtained with a open-circuit voltage V_oc = 0.79 V, short-circuit current J_sc = 13.4 mA/cm² and fill factor F.F. = 0.40. Furthermore, the experimental results also showed the CuMg alloy was suitable for the replacement of n⁺-doped-layer with the production cost reduction of a-Si:H TSFC.     

Survey of material options and issues for thin film silicon solar cells

The high production cost of thick high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells inhibits widespread application of photovoltaic devices whereas the most developed of thin film cell technologies, that based on amorphous silicon, suffers inherent instability and low efficiency. Crystalline thin-film silicon solar cells offer the potential for a long-term solution for low cost but high-efficiency modules for most applications. This paper reviews the progress in thin-film silicon solar cell development over the last two decades, including progress in thin-film crystal growth, device fabrication, novel cell design, new material development, light trapping and both bulk and surface passivation. Quite promising results have been obtained for both large-grain (>100 μm) polycrystalline silicon material and the recently developed microcrystalline silicon materials. A novel multijunction solar cell design provides a new approach to achieving high-efficiency solar cells from very modest quality and hence low-cost material. Light trapping is essential for high performance from thin-film silicon solar cells. This can be realized by incorporating an appropriate texture on the substrate surface. Both bulk and surface passivation is also important to ensure that the photogenerated carriers can be collected effectively within the thin-film device. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental assessment of thin silicon solar cells from pilot production

Following the earlier demonstration of the performance capabilities of 4-mil silicon solar cells and the feasibility of using these cells on large flexible arrays of space vehicles, more than a thousand 4-mil cells have been fabricated in pilot production by four routes. The various types of cells that have been evaluated had solderless evaporated titanium-silver contacts in both a conventional and wraparound configuration, solderless evaporated titanium-silver contacts "overplated" with a layer of copper-gold, and solderless plated mickel-copper-gold contacts in a conventional and wraparound configuration. Both 1-by-2-cm and 2-by-2-cm, n on p cells have been manufactured from 1 and 10 Ω . cm boron-doped silicon. In every case, satisfactory production yields have been achieved. The above cells have been subjected to environmental conditions aimed at studying the effects of high-ambient humidity on the cell contacts during "shelf life" prior to launch and the degradation in performance from electron and proton irradiation encountered during long-term spiral transfer orbits to synchronous altitude. Specifically the problem of low-energy "synchronous altitude" proton irradiation of exposed bar and back contacts and the protection afforded by various forms of coatings has been investigated.     

非晶硅薄膜太阳能电池应用开发新进展

非晶硅（ａ－Ｓｉ）薄膜太阳能电池是取之不尽的洁净能源－太阳能的光电元（组）件。文章详述了ａ－Ｓｉ薄膜太阳能电池的工艺优势，市场开发状况，可能应用领域，存在问题和展望。     

Polycrystalline silicon solar cells from recrystallized plasma deposited thin films

Large grain polycrystalline silicon films are produced by a two step process involving plasma deposition of microcrystalline silicon films on a substrate, separation from the substrate, and subsequent grain enhancement of the silicon films. The effects of doping and substrate temperature during deposition on the solar cell conversion efficiency are investigated. Effects of ppm level molybdenum contamination from the substrate, and silicon microstructure after grain enhancement, on solar cell efficiency parameters are also investigated. Solar cells with efficiencies of up to 10.1% under AM1 illumination, were fabricated on these silicon films.     

Theoretical comparison of conventional and multilayer thin silicon solar cells

Thin solar cells based on low-quality silicon are assessed for a range of possible material parameter values and device structures. Device thickness is freely optimized for maximum efficiency for a range of doping densities and numbers of junctions, le ading to results differing markedly from previous investigations. Modelling of conventional and multilayer structures in this paper indicates little difference in efficiency potential on low-lifetime (<50 ns) crystalline silicon layers. Moderate effici encies (>15%) are possible given adequate light trapping. Conventional structures (single and double junction cells) are superior if excellent light trapping is assumed. Thicker multilayer structures are advantageous in the case of poor light trapping or surface passivation. In an optimized cell in low-quality silicon, increasing the number of junctions allows a high current to be maintained, but at the cost of a reduced voltage and fill factor caused by increased junction recombination. Formidable pra ctical difficulties are likely to be encountered to realize the theoretical performances discussed.     

Two‐dimensional modeling of front contact silicon solar cells

The modeling of a new type of silicon solar cell intended for operation at very high concentration, with all the contacts at its front face, is presented. The two‐dimensional model developed makes use of the theory of the complex variable, and is able to explain the main features of the operation of these cells. It is shown that if all the parameters reach good state‐of‐the‐art values, and with the appropriate layout, this structure can reach 25% efficiency for a range of concentrations wider than any other known silicon cell. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

前结背接触晶硅太阳电池发射区研究

利用Silvaco-TCAD仿真软件全面系统地分析了发射区表面浓度(cE)、结深(xj)及发射区覆盖比率(EF)对P型前结背接触晶硅太阳电池输出特性的影响。结果表明:基于常规低成本P型晶硅衬底(利用直拉法生长,电阻率为1.5?·cm,少子寿命为10μs)的前结背接触太阳电池,其上表面发射区表面浓度及结深对太阳电池的输出特性产生显著影响。上表面发射区表面浓度和结深越大,短波入射光外量子效率越小。当上表面发射区表面浓度为1×1019 cm–3,结深为0.2μm时,电池效率高达20.72%。侧面和下表面发射区表面浓度及结深对太阳电池输出特性的影响较小。但侧面和下表面发射区覆盖比率对太阳电池的输出特性产生显著影响。侧面和下表面发射区覆盖比率越大,太阳电池外量子效率和转换效率越高。     

21.5% Efficient thin silicon solar cell

Although many calculations since the early 1980s have predicted that high performance in thin crystalline silicon cells is feasible, performance levels demonstrated in the past have been quite modest. Using a self-supporting silicon membrane, experimen tal energy conversion efficiency above 20% is described for the first time for a silicon cell of less than 50 μm thickness, with efficiency up to 21.5% independently confirmed for a 47-μm thick device. The cells demonstrate a better ability to tra p light internally within their structure than any previously measured device. They also demonstrate the surface passivation benefits of the recently described parallel multijunction thin-film silicon cell approach.     

Buried-contact silicon solar cells

Recent technological and commercial developments for the buried-contact solar cell (BCSC) are reviwed. Four of the world's largest manufacturers have entered into manufacturing agreements, with a number of these taking advantage of the high-efficiency capabilities of the large-area BCSCs to produce cells for solar cars in the 1990 and 1993 World Solar Challenges and in the solar car race across the USA in 1993. Despite the efficiencies and commercial interest acheived by the conventional structure for the BCSC, a number of areas for improvement remain. In particular, the rear aluminium-alloyed region limits the cell performance, and dislocation generation resulting from stresses at the silicon/silicon dioxide interface can also play a significant role in reducing efficiencies. Through the use of a photolithographically defined rear metal contact, efficiencies in excess of 21% and open-circuit voltages as high as 693 mV for the hybrid BCSC have been demonstrated. the effect of the heavily diffused region beneath the metal contacts in the grooves is studied and its implications for the new generation of BCSCs with grooves on front and rear surfaces are considered. the economic and technological merits of a range of groove formation approaches are discussed, with a low-cost, high-throughput ganged dicing wheel saw with 35 wheels showing most promise.     

Amorphous silicon solar cells

Amorphous silicon solar cells have been fabricated in several different structures: heterojunctions, p-i-n junctions, and Schottky barrier devices. The procedures used in constructing the various solar cells are discussed, and their photovoltaic properties are compared. At present, the highest conversion efficiency (5.5 percent) has been obtained with a Schottky barrier cell, and this structure appears to offer the best promise of approaching the estimated efficiency limit of ∼ 15 percent.     

Point-contact silicon solar cells

A new type of silicon photovoltaic cell designed for high-concentration applications is presented. The device is called the point-contact-cell and shows potential for achieving energy conversion efficiencies in the neighborhood of 28 percent at the design operating point of 500× geometric concentration and 60°C cell temperature. This cell has alternating n and p regions that form a polkadot array on the bottom surface. A two-layermetallization on the bottom provides contact. Initial experimental results have yielded a cell with 20-percent efficiency at a concentration of 88.     

Design of Ag nanograting for broadband absorption enhancement in amorphous silicon thin film solar cells

Light trapping is one of the key issues to improve the light absorption and increase the efficiency of thin film solar cells. The effects of the triangular Ag nanograting on the absorption of amorphous silicon solar cells were investigated by a numerical simulation based on the finite element method. The light absorption under different angle and area of the grating has been calculated. Furthermore, the light absorption with different incident angle has been calculated. The optimization results show that the absorption of the solar cell with triangular Ag nanograting structure and anti-reflection film is enhanced up to 96% under AM1.5 illumination in the 300–800 nm wavelength range compared with the reference cell. The physical mechanisms of absorption enhancement in different wavelength range have been discussed. Furthermore, the solar cell with the Ag nanograting is much less sensitive to the angle of incident light. These results are promising for the design of amorphous silicon thin film solar cells with enhanced performance.