A passivating contact for silicon solar cells formed during a single firing thermal annealing
Source abstract
Abstract
Passivating contacts are indispensable for achieving high conversion efficiency in crystalline-silicon solar cells. Their realization and integration into a convenient process flow have become crucial research objectives. Here, we report an alternative passivating contact that is formed in a single post-deposition annealing step called ‘firing’, an essential step for current solar cell manufacturing. As firing is a fast ( 750 °C) anneal, the required microstructural and electrical properties of the passivating contact are stringent. We demonstrate that tuning the carbon content of boron-doped silicon-based thin films inhibits firing-induced layer delamination without preventing a partial crystallization. The latter promotes charge-carrier selectivity, even in the absence of a diffused doped region beyond the oxide, by inducing hole accumulation near the wafer surface. We fabricated proof-of-concept solar cells employing the developed technology, demonstrating an open circuit voltage of 698 mV and an efficiency of 21.9%, and show how it could be a drop-in replacement for today’s rear contacts based on locally opened dielectric passivation stacks.
Source: openaire · Quality: candidate unverified · Source record ↗
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Silicon and Solar Cell Technologies · Thin-Film Transistor Technologies · Semiconductor materials and interfaces
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
References (62)
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