High-Efficiency Large-Area Rear Passivated Silicon Solar Cells With Local Al-BSF and Screen-Printed Contacts

This paper describes the cell design and technology on large-area (239 cm²) commercial grade Czochralski Si wafers using industrially feasible oxide/nitride rear passivation and screen-printed local back contacts. A combination of optimized front and back dielectrics, rear surface finish, oxide thickness, fixed oxide charge, and interface quality provided effective surface passivation without parasitic shunting. Increasing the rear oxide thickness from 40 to 90 Å in conjunction with reducing the surface roughness from 1.3 to 0.2 μm increased the V_oc from 640 mV to 656 mV. Compared with 18.6% full aluminum back surface field (Al-BSF) reference cell, local back-surface field (LBSF) improved the back surface reflectance (BSR) from 65% to 93% and lowered the back surface recombination velocity (BSRV) from 310 to 130 cm/s. Two-dimensional computer simulations were performed to optimize the size, shape, and spacing of LBSF regions to obtain good fill factor (FF). Model calculations show that 20% efficiency cells can be achieved with further optimization of local Al-BSF cell structure and improved screen-printed contacts.