Detailed analysis of surface recombination in crystalline silicon solar cells

Losses in solar cells are major concern for photovoltaic designers and minimizing them is the aim of all workers in this field. Recombination of photo generated charge carriers, both in the bulk and at surfaces, is the most prominent loss mechanism. In this work, surface recombination effect on crystalline silicon solar cells, both at the front and rear sides, is investigated. For typical thin silicon solar cell (100μm) the rear surface recombination is more important than the front. This could be treated by reducing rear surface metallization coverage or of a BSF layer while the front recombination could be reduced by surface passivation.