Title :
Increasing the Efficiency of Screen-Printed Silicon Solar Cells by Light-Induced Silver Plating
Author :
Mette, A. ; Schetter, C. ; Wissen, D. ; Lust, S. ; Glunz, S.W. ; Willeke, G.
Author_Institution :
Fraunhofer Inst. for Solar Energy Syst., Freiburg
Abstract :
This paper presents a method to improve the efficiency of large area screen-printed silicon solar cells by about 0.3% to 0.4% absolute. By light-induced plating (LIP) the series resistance of screen-printed solar cells is reduced. The line conductivity of the front side metal conductors is improved without increasing the shaded area. This plating technique has been optimized for years at Fraunhofer ISE and is a fast method to homogeneously galvanize metal contacts on n-doped material. High efficiencies of 18.4% on 20times20 mm2 screen-printed FZ silicon solar cells and 16.6% on 156times156 mm2 industrial processed mc-Si solar cells have been obtained. It is believed that the significant increase of efficiency combined with the reduction of the amount of screen-printing paste required, overcompensates the cost for this additional step at the end of the process sequence
Keywords :
elemental semiconductors; semiconductor device manufacture; silicon; silver; solar cells; 18.4 percent; Fraunhofer ISE; LIP; Si; homogeneously galvanize metal contacts; industrial processed solar cells; light-induced silver plating; line conductivity; metal conductors; n-doped material; plating technique; screen-printed silicon solar cells; Conducting materials; Conductivity; Contact resistance; Costs; Electric resistance; Fingers; Optical losses; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; Silver;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Conference Record of the 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on
Conference_Location :
Waikoloa, HI
Print_ISBN :
1-4244-0017-1
Electronic_ISBN :
1-4244-0017-1
DOI :
10.1109/WCPEC.2006.279322
