Simplified mass-production process for 16% efficiency multi-crystalline Si solar cells

Author

Arimoto, S. ; Nakatani, M. ; Nishimoto, Y. ; Morikawa, H. ; Hayashi, M. ; Namizaki, H. ; Namba, K.

Author_Institution

Mitsubishi Electr. Corp., Hyogo, Japan

fYear

2000

fDate

2000

Firstpage

188

Lastpage

193

Abstract

We have developed a simplified mass-production process for 16% efficiency multi-crystalline silicon solar cells. In this paper, newly developed fabrication process without increasing process steps and applying expensive equipment is described. The main improved points are as follows: (1) novel texturing method using Na2CO₃: reduced fabrication cost compared to conventional NaOH+IPA etching; (2) optimization of PECVD temperature for SiN ARC; and (3) improved silver paste for fire-through of PECVD-SiN AR film: reduction of penetration into diffused n-layer during firing and finer line electrodes with high aspect ratio. By combining such novel technologies, 16% efficiency for 15 cm×15 cm cells has been obtained for four different suppliers mc-Si wafers

Keywords

antireflection coatings; elemental semiconductors; plasma CVD coatings; silicon; silicon compounds; solar cells; 15 cm; 16 percent; Na2CO₃; NaOH+IPA etching; PECVD temperature optimisation; PECVD-SiN AR film; SiN ARC; diffused n-layer; fabrication process; finer line electrodes; fire-through; firing; high aspect ratio; mass-production process; multi-crystalline Si solar cells; reduced fabrication cost; silver paste; texturing method; Cost function; Electrodes; Etching; Fabrication; Firing; Optimization methods; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon compounds; Silver; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE

Conference_Location

Anchorage, AK

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5772-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2000.915786

Filename

915786