Title :
Analysis of rear contacted solar cell structures for cost-effective processes and materials
Author :
Dicker, J. ; Sölter, J. ; Schumacher, J.O. ; Glunz, S.W. ; Warta, W.
Author_Institution :
Fraunhofer-Inst. fur Solare Energiesysteme, Freiburg, Germany
Abstract :
The authors compare the limiting effects of high-efficiency rear contacted solar cells, screen-printed rear contacted solar cells and emitter-wrap-through solar cells for different cell thickness by means of numerical device simulation. For high diffusion lengths, the high-efficiency rear contacted cell and the emitter-wrap-through solar cell show a decreasing short circuit current density with decreasing cell thickness, whereas the screen-printed rear contact cell shows the reverse behavior due to a “pumping” effect of the floating emitter. The impact of the emitter sheet resistance in the via hole of the emitter-wrap-through cell on the illuminated IV-curve is investigated for illumination from the front and from the rear side. The presented analysis allows an optimization of rear contacted cells for application as high-efficiency and as low-cost structures
Keywords :
carrier lifetime; current density; electrical contacts; semiconductor device models; semiconductor-metal boundaries; solar cells; thick films; cell thickness; cost-effective materials; cost-effective processes; diffusion length; emitter sheet resistance; emitter-wrap-through solar cells; illuminated IV-curve; numerical device simulation; rear contacted solar cell structures; screen-printed rear contact solar cells; short circuit current density; solar cell optimization; Circuit simulation; Electronic switching systems; Geometry; Lighting; Numerical simulation; P-n junctions; Photovoltaic cells; Short circuit currents; Solar energy; Surface texture;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Anchorage, AK
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5772-8
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2000.915847
