Microstructural studies on fire-through front contact metallization of Si solar cells

Author

Sepeai, Suhaila ; Sulaiman, M.Y. ; Zaidi, Saleem H. ; Sopian, Kamaruzzaman

Author_Institution

Solar Energy Res. Inst. (SERI), Univ. Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, Malaysia

fYear

2011

fDate

28-30 Sept. 2011

Firstpage

364

Lastpage

367

Abstract

Screen-printed Silver/Argentum (Ag) metallization is used in the photovoltaic industry for the front-side emitter contacts of crystalline silicon solar cells owing to its cost-effectiveness and high throughput. In order to obtain a better understanding for the formation of Ag paste and silicon (Si) interface, the firing treatment was studied. The microstructure properties of the fire-through Ag metal contacts formed on pyramid textured silicon wafers are investigated. The best firing temperature is 800°C with an open circuit voltage at 0.504V and efficiency of 13.67%. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) characterization of Ag shows that as the temperature further increased, the particles of Ag fuse together and the decrease of the Ag thin film thickness indicates that n+ layer has been formed.

Keywords

metallisation; scanning electron microscopy; silicon; solar cells; SEM; Si; crystalline silicon solar cells; fire-through front contact metallization; firing treatment; front-side emitter; microstructural studies; photovoltaic industry; pyramid textured silicon wafers; scanning electron microscopy; screen-printed silver-argentum metallization; Fires; Firing; Grain size; Metallization; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro and Nanoelectronics (RSM), 2011 IEEE Regional Symposium on

Conference_Location

Kota Kinabalu

Print_ISBN

978-1-61284-844-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/RSM.2011.6088361

Filename

6088361