Fabrication technology for thin film silicon hybrid solar cells and modules

The fabrication process technology for thin film silicon hybrid solar cells and their performance are reviewed. We developed a new light trapping scheme for multi-junction cells and modules, where transparent inter-layer is inserted between amorphous Si and thin film crystalline Si. An initial aperture efficiency of 13.4% has been achieved for a 910×455mm² size module with this inter-layer, and this HYBRID PLUS module is in production with size of 1200×1000mm². The improvement of the performance for the HYBRID module in outdoor conditions will be also discussed from the viewpoint of the device design of the component cells. We also developed new infra-red absorbing layer to utilize long wavelength light for photovoltaic conversion.