Metal grids-based texturization of monocrystalline silicon wafers for solar cells

A metal grids-based texturization approach of monocrystalline silicon wafers with sodium carbonate solution is proposed. Using this etching process a low reflectance of silicon surface can be obtained for solar cells and the cost is lower than conventional texturization process. In the present work metal grids with suitable openings are used to capture hydrogen bubbles and remove them from the silicon surface, which are created due to the texturing reaction and stuck on silicon surface to prevent the texturing process. The reflectivity, the surface morphology and the etching rate are used to evaluate this texturization method. The influences of the size of the openings and the separation between grids and wafers on reflectance are studied. Under optimized conditions, uniform pyramids are fabricated. An average reflectance of 10.7% is obtained without any anti-reflectance coating.