Progress in silicon heterojunction solar cell fabrication with rear laser-fired contacts

Silicon Heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells are one of the most promising alternatives for high efficiency industrially feasible solar cells. The structure of these devices is based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers deposited at low temperature on crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrates. This fabrication process reduces the thermal stress on the substrate and is compatible with thinner wafers. In this work, we present our recent progress in the fabrication of SHJ solar cells on p-type c-Si wafers. The deposition conditions of hydrogenated amorphous silicon-carbon (a-SiC_x:H) layers obtained by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) are optimized. We have also applied a novel laser-firing process to contact the rear side of the fabricated devices. In this way, solar cells with point contacts through rear passivating layers can be fabricated without any photolithographic step. Recently, our group has obtained a remarkable conversion efficiency of 17.2 % on 1 cm² SHJ solar cells fabricated in a fully low temperature process.