PERC背钝化结构提升多晶硅太阳电池的光电转换性能研究

在工业产线上制备了PERC结构的多晶硅太阳电池,并研究了在电池背表面引入PERC背钝化结构对其光电转换性能的影响。结果表明:PERC背钝化结构能够提升电池的短路电流和开路电压,光电转换效率超过了20%。结合光学仿真及分析电池的关键光电参数知,其光电转换性能改善的原因可归结为PERC背钝化结构降低了长波太阳光子在背铝电极的寄生吸収损失和光生载流子的背表面复合损失。PERC背钝化结构能够提升多晶硅太阳电池的光电转换效率,并且其制备工艺与传统产线兼容,是一种优选的产业电池结构。     

多晶硅太阳电池背表面刻蚀提升其性能的产线工艺研究

对比研究了产线上多晶硅太阳电池背表面刻蚀对 其光电转换性能的影响。示范性实验结果表明:多晶硅太阳电池背表面刻蚀能够改善其短路 电流, 从而相应的光电转换效 率提升了约 0．1％。依据多晶硅太阳电池背表面刻蚀前后的扫描 电镜(SEM)形貌、背表面漫 反射光谱及完整电池片外量子效率的测试结果,改进的光电转换的原因可能源于背表面刻蚀 “镜面”化有利于太阳光子在背表面内反射和改进印刷Al浆与背表面覆盖接触。背表面刻蚀 与当前晶硅电池产线工艺兼容,能够提升电池片的光电转换效率,是一种可供选择的产线升 级工艺。     

丝网印刷制备黑硅太阳电池及其性能表征

采用纳米金颗粒催化腐蚀的方法在硅片表面制备得纳米多孔结构,实现了1.5%（300-1200 nm）的权重反射率。本文采用OPCl3扩散、丝网印刷制备前后电极及共烧等常规太阳电池工艺来制备黑硅太阳电池,对不同腐蚀深度及不同扩散方阻的黑硅太阳电池片的输出电性能进行了分析,并对制备工艺进行了优化,提高了电池的转换效率,实现了丝网印刷制备12.17%的黑硅太阳电池转换效率。     

PERC结构多晶硅太阳电池的研究

高效、低成本是目前硅太阳电池追求的主要目标。多晶硅太阳电池成本低,但其电性能较差。背面钝化及局部背接触是提高多晶硅太阳电池电性能的主要技术。通过采用SiO2/SiNx叠层膜作为背钝化介质层,依次经过背面开槽、丝网印刷、烧结形成背面局部接触,制备钝化发射极和背表面电池(PERC)结构多晶硅太阳电池。采用恒光源I-V特性测试系统测试其电性能,结果表明:较之常规铝背场多晶硅太阳电池,PERC结构电池在开路电压Voc、短路电流密度Jsc、转换效率η方面分别提高了13 mV、1.8 mA/cm2和0.67%(绝对值),其转换效率达到17.27%。PERC结构多晶硅电池采用了常规丝网印刷工艺,有利于实现高效多晶硅电池的产业化生产,具有很高的实际意义。     

n型单晶硅片的电阻率和扩散方阻对IBC太阳电池电性能的影响

叉指背接触式(IBC)太阳电池因正面没有金属栅线遮挡,具有较高的短路电流,且组件外观更加美观。但由于IBC太阳电池正负电极在背面交叉式分布,在制备过程中需要采用光刻掩模技术进行隔离,难以实现大规模生产。采用Quokka软件仿真模拟了电阻率和扩散方阻对n型IBC太阳电池效率的影响,并对不同电阻率和扩散方阻的电池片进行了实验验证,从n型单晶硅片电阻率的选择和扩散工艺优化方面为IBC太阳电池的规模化生产提供了理论基础。实验结果表明,电阻率为3~5Ω·cm、扩散方阻为70Ω/时,小批量生产的IBC太阳电池平均光电转换效率可达23.73%,开路电压为693 mV,短路电流密度为42.44 mA/cm²,填充因子为80.69%。     

硅太阳电池扩散方阻与栅线宽度匹配的研究

研究了扩散方块电阻及印刷栅线宽度变化对太阳电池电性能的影响,根据初步实验结果提出假设,通过进一步实验进行验证。结果表明：适当地提高扩散方阻、降低栅线宽度,有利于短路电流及效率的提升。但受限于串联电阻的增大,方阻及线宽存在一个最优值,通过Matlab软件建立模型进行模拟,求出最优解。证明了扩散方阻需要与栅线宽度很好地匹配才能达到理想的效果。     

浅结密栅线硅太阳电池工艺研究

通过提高发射区方块电阻,配合密栅线丝网印刷工艺,制备了性能优良的多晶硅太阳电池。对比两种不同扩散工艺的方块电阻和ECV浓度,分析发射区方块电阻对太阳电池电性能参数的影响。结果表明:方阻为80Ω/□的发射区比70Ω/□的发射区的太阳电池串联电阻增加了0.03mΩ,导致填充因子下降0.05%,但是开路电压和短路电流密度分别提高了0.9mV和0.13mA/cm2,最终转换效率仍然提高了0.08%。     

太阳电池栅线优化设计

优化设计太阳电池的电极图形可以获得高的光电转换效率。文中以实例介绍了晶体硅太阳电池上丝网印刷电极的优化设计,讨论了电池的功率损耗与扩散薄层电阻及细栅线宽度的关系,在原始设计的基础上设计出了理想尺寸的太阳电池栅线。经过优化改进的太阳电池可降低由电极设计引起的总功率损失,并且提高了电池片的光电转化效率。     

双层氮化硅减反、钝化结构对多晶硅太阳电池性能的影响

探究了多晶硅太阳电池表面双层氮化硅减反、钝化结构的产线工艺.示范性实验结果表明,直接与多晶硅接触的底层氮化硅的厚度是双层氮化硅减反、钝化能力的一个关键因素.相对于单层氮化硅减反、钝化的多晶硅太阳电池,厚度优化的双层氮化硅减反、钝化电池片的短路电流和开路电压均有所改善,相应的光电转换效率提升超过0.2％.光电转换效率的提升归因于双层氮化硅减反、钝化结构有利于降低光损失和表面钝化.     

绒面掺铝氧化锌透明导电薄膜研究进展

绒面掺铝氧化锌(AZO)透明导电薄膜由于电阻率低、在可见光区域透过率高、绒面结构能有效散射入射光,提高太阳电池光电转换效率,被广泛应用于太阳电池前电极。概述了绒面AZO薄膜的制备方法,重点介绍了磁控溅射技术沉积AZO薄膜后再进行湿法刻蚀制绒面方法,制备的样品呈现"坑状"或"类月球地貌"的绒面,并讨论了工艺对薄膜结构、光电性能和刻蚀行为的影响,最后介绍了绒面AZO薄膜在硅薄膜太阳电池中的应用,进一步降低生产成本和实现大规模产业化生产是绒面AZO薄膜的发展趋势。     

A Novel Silicon Photovoltaic Cell Using a Low-Temperature Quasi-Epitaxial Silicon Emitter

A new silicon solar cell fabricated using a low-temperature process is demonstrated with a highly conductive (n+) quasi-epitaxial (qEpi-Si) silicon emitter deposited on silicon substrates, without using transparent conductive oxides. The emitter was formed by a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process on granular multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) substrates at a substrate temperature of 250 . The new qEpi-Si/(p)mc-Si junction was found to be of good quality for photovoltaic applications. Solar cells of 1- area and conversion efficiencies exceeding 10% have been fabricated in a simple fabrication process and device structure.     

Impact of excess phosphorus doping and Si crystalline defects on Ag crystallite nucleation and growth in silver screen‐printed Si solar cells

Good quality contacts between metal and silicon emitter are crucial for high crystalline solar cell efficiencies. We investigate the impact of defects originating from electrically inactive phosphorus on contact formation within silver thick film metallized silicon solar cells. For this purpose, emitters with varying sheet resistance, depth, and dead layer were metallized with silver pastes from different generations. Macroscopic contact resistivity measurements were compared with the microscopic contact configurations studied by scanning electron microscopy. The density of direct contacts between Ag crystallites grown into Si and the Ag finger bulk is essential for low contact resistivity. The presence of glass‐free regions needed for such direct contacts depends on the paste composition and on the surface texture, and does not vary with the Si emitter properties. Indeed, the decrease in contact resistivity correlates with increasing density of Ag crystallites embedded in the Si surface. Furthermore, the density of Si surface‐embedded Ag crystallites scales proportional to the electrically inactive P and is independent of the sheet resistance. Using the newest silver paste, the Ag crystallite density is independent of the emitter doping, but the Ag crystallite size increases as a function of the thickness of the dead layer. Transmission electron microscopy characterization of the excess P‐doped Si crystal lattice shows that significant strain and Si bond weakening may play a major role for both Ag crystallite nucleation and growth. Finally, we studied Si crystal defects by metallizing nanocracks, dislocations, and grain boundaries and found that Ag crystallite nucleation is defect‐property dependent. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Comparison of Bulk Lifetime, Efficiency, and Light-Induced Degradation in Boron- and Gallium-Doped Cast mc-Si Solar Cells

High-efficiency boron- and gallium-doped multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) cells were fabricated and compared in this paper. The quality of three different boron-doped mc-Si ingots and one gallium-doped mc-Si ingot was investigated and compared by means of lifetime measurements and solar cell efficiencies. Untextured screen printed 4-cm² cell efficiencies in excess of 16% were achieved in this paper when the lifetime after gettering and hydrogenation exceeded 100 mus. This was true for most wafers from top, middle, and bottom regions of the boron-doped ingots. Lifetimes in excess of 300 mus were achieved from the middle region of some boron- and gallium-doped mc-Si ingots. High efficiencies in excess of 16.7% were attained from the middle region of most ingots investigated in this paper regardless of gallium or boron dopant. Light-induced degradation in efficiency (2%-3% relative) was observed in some of the boron-doped mc-Si wafers in which oxygen concentration was high (15 ppm). In contrast, gallium-doped solar cells were found to be very stable under illumination irrespective of their location in the ingot. Device characterization and modeling were performed to show that the combined effect of large variation in resistivity and lifetime along the gallium-doped mc-Si ingots results in variation in the cell efficiency from different regions of the gallium-doped ingots. Design rules were established to determine the optimum thickness of the solar cell for extracting maximum efficiency when the bulk lifetime and resistivity vary along the length of the ingot for a better utilization of the whole ingot     

Laminated grid solar cells (LGCells) on multicrystalline silicon. Application of atomic hydrogen treatment

For the first time, solar cells of laminated grid cell (LGCell) design are fabricated on multicrystalline nontextured silicon (mc-Si). An efficiency of 15.9% is achieved. The effect of (n ⁺ pp ⁺)-mc-Si structure treatment by atomic hydrogen generated by a hot filament and microwave plasma is studied. Hydrogenation improves the parameters describing the dependence of the open-circuit voltage on the radiation intensity and the long-wavelength (λ = 1000 nm) sensitivity of the solar cell by 10–20%, which indicates that defects in mc-Si are passivated. Hydrogenation of the emitter side results in an increase in the series resistance of the solar cell, a decrease in the short-wavelength (λ = 400 nm) sensitivity by 30–35%, and the appearance of an oxygen peak in the energy-dispersive spectra (EDS). These effects are eliminated by fine etching of the emitter.     

Ni/Cu electroplating,a worthwhile alternative to use instead of Ag screen-printed front side metallization of conventional solar cells

For commercial purposes, it is necessary to manufacture high-efficiency and low-cost solar cells using simple processes. The front contact formation is one of the most critical steps in solar cell processing. Although silver paste screen-printed solar cells are the most widespread on the photovoltaic market, their efficiency is strongly limited as a result of shading and resistive losses, or more precisely the high contact resistance. Cu metallization for crystalline Si solar cells has attracted much attention as an alternative to the screen-printing technology. The low-cost Ni/Cu metal contact is regarded as the next generation of metallization processes to still improve the efficiency with a low specific contact resistance; it is formed using low-cost electroless plating and electroplating. A diffusion barrier should be placed between Cu and Si, to prevent Cu diffusion. Ni is shown to be an adequate barrier to Cu diffusion. For these reasons, geometry optimization of metal contacts of the front face, deposited by commercial processes, is investigated in this paper, in order to improve the spectral response of conventional multicrystalline mc-Si silicon solar cells. Their efficiency variation is analyzed as a function of changes in cell parameters (finger separation distance, height and width of finger, sheet resistance emitter...) using simulation programs in MATLAB, using contours to represent the efficiency evolution in terms of two variables. Efficiency gain of more than 0.7% has been achieved in this study. The simulation results were then compared with experimental data in order to be validated.     

DC‐sputtered ZnO:Al as transparent conductive oxide for silicon heterojunction solar cells with µc‐Si:H emitter

Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells are highly interesting, because of their high efficiency and low cost fabrication. So far, the most applied transparent conductive oxide (TCO) is indium tin oxide (ITO). The replacement of ITO with cheaper, more abundant and environmental friendly material with texturing capability is a promising way to reduce the production cost of the future SHJ solar cells. Here, we report on the fabrication of the SHJ solar cells with direct current‐sputtered aluminum‐doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) as an alternative TCO. Furthermore, we address several important differences between ITO and the ZnO:Al layers including a high Schottky barrier at the emitter/ZnO:Al interface and a high intrinsic resistivity of the ZnO:Al layers. To overcome the high Schottky barrier, we suggest employing micro‐crystalline silicon (µc‐Si:H) emitter, which also improves temperature threshold and passivation of the solar cell precursor. In addition, we report on the extensive studies of the effect of the ZnO:Al deposition parameters including layer thickness, oxygen flow, power density and temperature on the electrical properties of the fabricated SHJ solar cells. Finally, the results of our study indicate that the ZnO:Al deposition parameters significantly affect the electrical properties of the obtained solar cell. By understanding and fine‐tuning all these parameters, a high conversion efficiency of 19.2% on flat wafer (small area (5 × 5 mm²) and without any front metal grid) is achieved. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

多晶硅表面暗纹的形成以及消除技术研究

通过改变氢氟酸和硝酸的比列,进行了多晶硅表面腐蚀实验,实验研究发现不同配比酸液能刻蚀形貌不同的陷阱坑,消除深沟槽,但陷阱坑开口大,反射率比较高;在优化氢氟酸和硝酸配比的基础上加入阴离子活性剂,然后腐蚀多晶硅表面。实验样品的SEM显示,多晶硅表面能形成比较均匀开口小的陷阱坑,其表面反射率也比较低,而且能有效消除长而深的腐蚀沟槽,这对多晶硅太阳电池的研究具有一定的意义。     

Decreased emitter sheet resistivity loss in high-eficiency silicon solar cells

State-of-the-art two-dimensional (2D) numerical semiconductor device simulation tools are applied to bifacially contacted silicon solar cells of practical dimensions in order to investigate the 2D effects arising from ohmic voltage drops in cell emitters due to finite front metal grid line spacings. the 2D simulations show that for typical front finger spacings of high-efficiency silicon solar cells the minority carrier flow in the base deviates strongly from the purely linear flow assumed by one-dimensional (1D) theory. Compared to conventional 1D theory, this 2D effect results in reduced emitter sheet resistivity losses, an increased optimum front finger spacing and a reduced impact of finger spacing on cell efficiency. the 2D effects are of particular importance for concentrator solar cells. The 2D simulations presented in this work considerably improve the general understanding of internal device physics of high-efficiency silicon solar cells and reveal the limits of 1D models for the simulation of these devices.     

Analysis of the EWT‐DGB solar cell at low and medium concentration and comparison with a PESC architecture

Silicon represents an interesting material to fabricate low‐cost and relatively simple and high‐efficient solar cells in the low and medium concentration range. In this paper, we discuss a novel cell scheme conceived for concentrating photovoltaic, named emitter wrap through with deep grooved base (EWT‐DGB), and compare it with the simpler passivated emitter solar cell. Both cells have been fabricated by means of a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor‐compatible process in our laboratory. The experimental characterization of both cells is reported in the range 1–200 suns in terms of conversion efficiency, open circuit voltage, short circuit current density and fill factor. In particular, for the EWT‐DGB solar cells, we obtain an encouraging 21.4% maximum conversion efficiency at 44 suns. By using a calibrated finite‐element numerical electro‐optical simulation tool, validated by a comparison with experimental data, we study the potentials of the two architectures for concentrated light conditions considering possible realistic improvements with respect to the fabricated devices. We compare the solar cell figures of merit with those of the state‐of‐the‐art silicon back‐contact back‐junction solar cell holding the conversion efficiency record for concentrator photovoltaic silicon. Simulation results predict a 24.8% efficiency at 50 suns for the EWT‐DGB cell and up to 23.9% at 100 suns for the passivated emitter solar cell, thus confirming the good potential of the proposed architectures for low to medium light concentration. Finally, simulations are exploited to provide additional analysis of the EWT‐DGB scheme under concentrated light. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.