Influence of Ring Oxidation-Induced Stack Faults on Efficiency in Silicon Solar Cells

We observe a strong correlation between the ring oxidation-induced stack faults (OISF) formed in the course of phosphor diffusion and the efficiency of Czochralski-grown silicon solar cells. The main reason for ring-OISF formation and growth in substrate is the silicon oxidation and phosphorus diffusion process induced silicon self-interstitial point defect during POCl₃ diffusion. The decreasing of minority carrier diffusion length in crystal silicon solar cell induced by ring-OISF defects is identified to be one of the major causes of efficiency loss.     

Bulk solar grade silicon: how chemistry and physics play to get a benevolent microstructured material

The availability of low-cost alternatives to electronic grade silicon has been and still is the condition for the extensive use of photovoltaics as an efficient sun harvesting system. The first step towards this objective was positively carried out in the 1980s and resulted in the reduction in cost and energy of the growth process using as feedstock electronic grade scraps and a variety of solidification procedures, all of which deliver a multi-crystalline material of high photovoltaic quality. The second step was an intense R&D activity aiming at defining and developing at lab scale a new variety of silicon, called “solar grade” silicon, which should fulfil the requirement of both cost effectiveness and high conversion efficiency. The third step involved and still involves the development of cost-effective technologies for the manufacture of solar grade silicon, in alternative to the classical Siemens route, which relays, as is well-known, to the pyrolitic decomposition of high-purity trichlorosilane and which is, also in its more advanced versions, extremely energy intensive. Aim of this paper is to give the author’s viewpoint about some open questions concerning bulk solar silicon for PV applications and about challenges and chances of novel feedstocks of direct metallurgical origin.     

Flexible a‐Si:H/nc‐Si:H tandem thin film silicon solar cells on plastic substrates with i ‐layers made by hot‐wire CVD

In this letter we report the result of an a‐Si:H/nc‐Si:H tandem thin film silicon solar mini‐module fabricated on plastic foil containing intrinsic silicon layers made by hot‐wire CVD (efficiency 7.4%, monolithically series‐connected, aperture area 25 cm²). We used the Helianthos cell transfer process. The cells were first deposited on a temporary aluminum foil carrier, which allows the use of the optimal processing temperatures, and then transferred to a plastic foil. This letter reports the characteristics of the flexible solar cells obtained in this manner, and compares the results with those obtained on reference glass substrates. The research focus for implementation of the hot‐wire CVD technique for the roll‐to‐roll process is also discussed. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

n‐type silicon solar cells with surface‐passivated screen‐printed aluminium‐alloyed rear emitter

Aluminium‐doped p‐type (Al‐p⁺) silicon emitters fabricated by means of a simple screen‐printing process are effectively passivated by plasma‐enhanced chemical‐vapour deposited amorphous silicon (a‐Si). We measure an emitter saturation current density of only 246 fA/cm², which is the lowest value achieved so far for a simple screen‐printed Al‐p⁺ emitter on silicon. In order to demonstrate the applicability of this easy‐to‐fabricate p⁺ emitter to high‐efficiency silicon solar cells, we implement our passivated p⁺ emitter into an n⁺np⁺ solar cell structure. An independently confirmed conversion efficiency of 19.7% is achieved using n‐type phosphorus‐doped Czochralski‐grown silicon as bulk material, clearly demonstrating the high‐efficiency potential of the newly developed a‐Si passivated Al‐p⁺ emitter. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

低温退火磷吸杂工艺对低少子寿命铸造多晶硅电性能的影响

本文针对低少子寿命铸造多晶硅片进行试验, 通过一种将多温度梯度磷扩散吸杂工艺与低温退火工艺结合的新型低温退火吸杂工艺, 去除低少子寿命多晶硅片中影响其电性能的Fe杂质及部分晶体缺陷, 提高低少子寿命多晶硅所生产的太阳电池各项电性能. 通过低温退火磷扩散吸杂工艺与其他磷扩散吸杂工艺的比较, 证明了低温退火吸杂工艺具有更好的磷吸杂和修复晶体缺陷的作用. IV-measurement发现经过低温退火工艺处理后的低少子寿命多晶硅, 制备的太阳电池光电转换效率比其他实验组高0.2%, 表明该工艺能有效地提高低少子寿命多晶硅太阳电池各项电性能参数及电池质量. 本研究结果表明新型低温退火磷吸杂工艺可将低少子寿命硅片应用于大规模太阳电池生产中, 提高铸造多晶硅材料在太阳能领域的利用率, 节约铸造多晶硅的生产成本. 关键词： 低温退火 磷吸杂 低少子寿命多晶硅 太阳电池     

High-temperature processing of crystalline silicon thin-film solar cells

The crystalline silicon thin-film solar cell combines, in principle, the advantages of crystalline silicon wafer-based solar cells and of thin-film solar cell technologies. Its efficiency potential is the highest of all thin-film cells. In the “high-temperature approach” thin silicon layers are deposited on substrates that withstand processing temperatures higher than 1000 °C. The basic features of the high-temperature crystalline silicon thin-film cell technology are described and some important results are discussed. Received: 1 March 1999 / Accepted: 28 March 1999 / Published online: 24 June 1999     

Development of polycrystalline silicon films on flexible metallic substrates by aluminium induced crystallization

Thin film silicon solar cells on low cost foreign substrates could be attractive for highly efficient and low cost production of photovoltaic electricity. An attempt has been made to synthesise high-quality continuous polycrystalline silicon (pc-Si) layers on flexible metallic substrates using aluminium induced crystallization (AIC) for the first time. Amorphous silicon films deposited by ECR-PECVD were crystallized on diffusion barrier coated metallic substrates at lower temperatures (<577°C). The crystallization was studied using Raman as well as UV reflectance spectroscopy. The as-grown AIC pc-Si films were found to be continuous and densely packed without amorphous phase. The migration of impurities from the substrate to the pc-Si films and the conformability of the barrier layer with the substrate and pc-Si films were studied systematically in terms of chemical and stress level analysis, which are the important aspects to be considered when metallic foils are used as substrates. It was observed that the barrier layer also serves as a buffer layer to minimise the stress level enormously in the AIC grown pc-Si layer, though the supporting material has a thermal expansion coefficient of higher order at higher annealing temperatures. The present investigation proves the possibility to grow better-quality polycrystalline silicon films on flexible metallic foils and further demonstrates the steps that need to be considered to improve the quality of AIC pc-Si films as well as the strength of the barrier layer.     

XPS surface analysis of monocrystalline silicon solar cells for manufacturing control

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) has been applied to surfaces of silicon wafers in the different stages of the assembly line for large-scale monocrystalline silicon solar cell manufacturing (ISOFOTON, Malaga, Spain). XPS results have shown that a considerable amount of carbon is present on the pyramidal-textured monocrystalline silicon surface. This amount decreases slightly but is still present after the process of phosphor diffusion (p-n junction), as well as after subsequent calcination in humid air for SiO₂ film formation (passivation). This amount of carbon may be buried during the process of CVD coating an anti-reflection TiO₂ film. After calcination of the film in order to obtain the TiO₂ rutile phase, an even higher amount of carbon is detected on the TiO₂ anti-reflection coating surface. This indicates that not all organics from the tetra-isopropile ortho-titanate (TPT) precursor were released from the film. Furthermore, in this case phosphor is found in excess on the SiO₂ wafer surface (dead layer) and also on the rutile TiO₂ surface, indicating that an extra phosphor diffusion from the bulk silicon through the TiO₂ film has taken place during calcination. These results demonstrate how thermal treatments applied in the solar cell manufacturing assembly line can influence and may change the intended compositional distribution. These treatments may also introduce defects that act as recombination centres for charge carriers in the solar cell device. Received: 13 September 2000 / Accepted: 10 January 2001 / Published online: 3 May 2001     

Deactivation of the boron–oxygen recombination center in silicon by illumination at elevated temperature

The boron–oxygen‐related recombination center responsible for the light‐induced degradation of solar cells made on boron‐doped oxygen‐contaminated silicon is deactivated by simultaneously annealing the silicon wafer in the temperature range 135–210 °C and illuminating it with white light. The recombination lifetime after deactivation is found to be stable under illumination at room temperature. The deactivation process is shown to be thermally activated with an activation energy of 0.7 eV. Based on the experimental findings, a defect reaction model is proposed explaining the deactivation of the boron–oxygen center. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

工业级纳米绒面多晶硅太阳电池的制备及其性能研究

基于产线工艺制备了纳米绒面多晶硅太阳电池,并表征其光电转换性能。研究结果表明：相对传统微米绒坑,纳米绒面能够提升多晶硅太阳电池的短路电流,相应的光电转换效率绝对值提升大于0.4%,产线均值光电转换效率超过了19.1%。结合漫反射光谱和外量子效率测试结果,改进的光电转换的原因归结为纳米绒面能够有效地诱捕短波和长波太阳光子,增强短波和长波太阳光响应。本研究证实纳米绒面多晶硅太阳电池可利用产线工艺制备且具有较高的光电转换效率,能够实现产业化。     

Photovoltaic quantum efficiency enhancement by light harvesting of organo-lanthanide complexes

An increase of about 1% of the delivered power by a mono-crystalline commercial silicon solar cell has been obtained by coating the cell with an active poly-vinylacetate film doped with a light harvesting phenanthroline-Eu³⁺ complex. The dopant absorbs the UV component of the solar spectrum, where the silicon-based cells are almost blind, and emits red light that can be converted with an efficiency close to the maximum. This effect, achieved by a low cost encapsulation process, has been proven for the case of Air Mass 0 lighting conditions, and could be exploited also for terrestrial applications with the proper choice of the organic ligand.     

Development of silicon purification by strong radiation catalysis method

Using a new type of solar furnace and a specially designed induction furnace,cost effective and highly efficient purification of metallurgical silicon into solar grade silicon can be achieved.It is realized by a new method for extracting boron from silicon with the aid of photo-chemical effect.In this article,we discussed the postulated principle of strong radiation catalysis and the recent development in practice.Starting from ordinary metallurgical silicon,we achieved a purification result of 0.12 ppmw to 0.3 ppmw of boron impurity in silicon by only single pass of a low cost and simple process,the major obstacle to make ’cheap’ solar grade silicon feedstock in industry is thus removed.     

Effective surface passivation of crystalline silicon by rf sputtered aluminum oxide

In recent years, excellent surface passivation has been achieved on both p‐type and n‐type surfaces of silicon wafers and solar cells using aluminum oxide deposited by plasma‐assisted atomic layer deposition. However, alternative deposition methods may offer practical advantages for large‐scale manufacturing of solar cells. In this letter we show that radio‐frequency magnetron sputtering is capable of depositing negatively‐charged aluminum oxide and achieving good surface passivation both on p‐type and n‐type silicon wafers. We thus establish that sputtered aluminum oxide is a very promising method for the surface passivation of high efficiency solar cells. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

New optical features to enhance solar cell performance based on porous silicon surfaces

Electrochemical etching is used to fabricate porous silicon (PS) surfaces for both sides of the Si wafer. The effect of PS on performance of Si solar cells is investigated and the reflected mirrors are manipulated to enhance solar cell efficiency. The process is promising for solar cell manufacturing due to its simplicity, lower cost and suitability for mass production. The PS surface has discrete pores and short-branched pores on the polished wafer side. In contrast, the etched backside of the wafer has smaller pore size, with random pores. PS formed on both sides has lower reflectivity value compared with results in other works. Solar cell efficiency is increased to 15.4% with PS formed on both sides compared with the unetched sample and other results. Using empirical models, the optical properties of the refractive index and the optical dielectric constant are investigated. The porous surface texturing properties could enhance and increase the conversion efficiency of porous Si solar cells. The obtained results are in agreement with experimental and other data.     

Black multi‐crystalline silicon solar cells

A simple method for nano‐scale texturing of silicon surfaces based on local metal‐catalyzed wet chemical etching, which results in an almost complete suppression of reflectivity in a broad spectral range, has been successfully applied to produce black multi‐crystalline silicon solar cells. The performance of the cells is compared to that of reference cells without surface nano‐texturing. A considerable increase of the short circuit current (by 36–42% with respect to the reference cells) without deterioration of other performance parameters is observed under natural sun illumination. Means of further optimization of such black solar cells are discussed. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Polycrystalline silicon on glass for thin-film solar cells

Although most solar cell modules to date have been based on crystalline or polycrystalline wafers, these may be too material intensive and hence always too expensive to reach the very low costs required for large-scale impact of photovoltaics on the energy scene. Polycrystalline silicon on glass (CSG) solar cell technology was developed to address this difficulty as well as perceived fundamental difficulties with other thin-film technologies. The aim was to combine the advantages of standard silicon wafer-based technology, namely ruggedness, durability, good electronic properties and environmental soundness with the advantages of thin-films, specifically low material use, large monolithic construction and a desirable glass superstrate configuration. The challenge has been to match the different preferred processing temperatures of silicon and glass and to obtain strong solar absorption in notoriously weakly-absorbing silicon of only 1–2 micron thickness. A rugged, durable silicon thin-film technology has been developed with amongst the lowest manufacturing cost of these contenders and confirmed efficiency for small pilot line modules already in the 10–11% energy conversion efficiency range, on the path to 12–13%.     

Characteristics of silicon solar cell emitter with a reduced diffused phosphorus inactive layer

The diffusion of phosphorus using a phosphorous oxychloride (POCl₃) source in silicon has been used widely in crystalline silicon solar cells. The thermal diffusion process in the furnace consists of two steps: pre-deposition and drive-in. The phosphorous doping profile via thermal diffusion often exhibits high concentrations in the surface-near emitter, which result in a recombination increase. This layer, called the dead layer, should be inhibited in order to fabricate high efficiency silicon solar cells. In this paper, the amount of the POCl₃ flow rate was varied during the pre-deposition process in order to minimize the dead layer, and the characteristics of the phosphosilicate glass (PSG) and emitter were analyzed. From the secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and electrochemical capacitance–voltage profiler (ECV) measurements, the emitter formed using a POCl₃ flow rate of 1000 sccm contained the least amount of inactive dopant and resulted in reasonable performance in the silicon solar cell. As the POCl₃ flow rate increased, the doped silicon wafer included electrically inactive P near the surface, which functions as a defect degrading the electrical performance of the emitter. As a result of this, the removal of the dead layer containing the inactive P was attempted through dipping the doped wafer in a HF solution. After this process, the emitter saturation current density and implied V_oc were improved. The completed solar cells and their external quantum efficiencies at a short wavelength also demonstrated improved performance. A quantitative analysis of the emitter can provide a deeper understanding of methods to improve the electrical characteristics of the silicon solar cell.     

基于BiFeO_3/ITO复合膜表面钝化的黑硅太阳电池性能研究

采用金属银辅助化学刻蚀法在制绒的硅片表面刻蚀纳米孔形成微纳米双层结构,以期获得高吸收率的太阳能电池用黑硅材料.鉴于微纳米结构会在晶硅表面引入大量的载流子复合中心,利用磁控溅射技术在黑硅太阳电池表面制备了BiFeO_3/ITO复合膜,并对其表面性能和优化效果进行了探索.实验制备的具有微纳米双层结构的黑硅纳米线长约180—320 nm,在300—1000 nm波长范围内入射光反射率均在5%以下.沉积BiFeO_3/ITO复合薄膜后的黑硅太阳能电池反射率略有提高,但仍然具有较强的光吸收性能;采用BiFeO_3/ITO复合膜的黑硅太阳能电池开路电压和短路电流密度分别由最初的0.61 V和28.42 mA/cm~2提升至0.68 V和34.57 mA/cm~2,相应电池的光电转化效率由13.3%上升至16.8%.电池综合性能的改善主要是因为沉积BiFeO_3/ITO复合膜提高了电池光生载流子的有效分离,从而增强了黑硅太阳电池短波区域的光谱响应,表明具有自发极化性能的BiFeO_3薄膜对黑硅太阳能电池的表面性能可起到较好的优化作用.     

Surface passivation schemes for high‐efficiency n‐type Si solar cells

An effective passivation on the front side boron emitter is essential to utilize the full potential of solar cells fabricated on n‐type silicon. However, recent investigations have shown that it is more difficult to achieve a low surface recombination velocity on highly doped p‐type silicon than on n‐type silicon. Thus, the approach presented in this paper is to overcompensate the surface of the deep boron emitter locally by a shallow phosphorus diffusion. This inversion from p‐type to n‐type surface allows the use of standard technologies which are used for passivation of highly doped n‐type surfaces. Emitter saturation current densities (J_0e) of 49 fA/cm² have been reached with this approach on SiO₂ passivated lifetime samples. On solar cells a certified conversion efficiency of 21.7% with an open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) of 676 mV was achieved. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Efficient implementation of multiple drive-in steps in thermal diffusion of phosphorus for PERC solar cells

N-type phosphorus diffusion in silicon using phosphorus oxychloride, POCl₃, has been widely used in the production of p-type silicon solar cells. The thermal diffusion process in a furnace generally involves two steps: pre-deposition and drive-in. The phosphorous doping by thermal diffusion often shows high surface concentrations, leading to an increase in charge recombination, which should be inhibited in order to fabricate high efficiency silicon solar cells. In this study, we investigate the influence of 3 drive-in steps at sequentially increasing temperatures during the POCl₃ diffusion on the emitter performance. As a result, it was found that the kink region was made shorter while maintaining surface concentration for a good metal contact without losing its passivation quality. This result is attributed to the higher active dopant concentration of the 3 drive-in step samples, leading to a lower series resistance and higher fill factor in the PERC solar cells. The results show that slight changes in the PSG process conditions can contribute to the improvement of high efficiency solar cells.