Present status and future prospects of silicon solar cell arrays and systems

1980 ◽  
Vol 295 (1414) ◽  
pp. 435-443 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Single Crystal ◽  
Silicon Solar Cell ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Film Deposition ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Production Volume ◽  
Crystal Silicon ◽  
Cell Arrays ◽  
And Performance

The first part of this paper deals with the present state of the art of the single crystal silicon cell industry: production volume, cost breakdown and main technologies. In the second section, improvements of the single crystal technologies, caused by mass production and automated physical processes, are described. These developments are compared, with regard to both cost and performance, with the future polycrystalline (or ‘semicrystalline’) materials, including amorphous silicon films. The various approaches, i.e. vapour or liquid film deposition, or oriented bulk ingot crystallization, are discussed. The third part assumes that very low cost goals can be achieved, either through the development of sophisticated single crystal technology, or through a polysilicon breakthrough. Future markets for photovoltaic conversion, including medium-size power generating plants, are then considered.

Semi-automatic, volume production of silicon solar cells

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (8) ◽  
pp. 892-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Thomas ◽  
C. E. Norman ◽  
S. Varma ◽  
G. Schwartz ◽  
E. M. Absi
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Single Crystal ◽  
Plasma Etching ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Crystal Silicon ◽  
Volume Production ◽  
P Type

A low-cost, high-yield technology for producing single-crystal silicon solar cells at high volumes, and suitable for export to developing countries, is described. The process begins with 100 mm diameter as-sawn single-crystal p-type wafers with one primary flat. Processing steps include etching and surface texturization, gaseous-source diffusion, plasma etching, and contacting via screen printing. The necessary adaptations of such standard processes as diffusion and plasma etching to solar-cell production are detailed. New process developments include a high-throughput surface-texturization technique, and automatic printing and firing of cell contacts.The technology, coupled with automated equipment developed specifically for the purpose, results in solar cells with an average efficiency greater than 12%, a yield exceeding 95%, a tight statistical spread on parameters, and a wide tolerance to starting substrates (including the first 100 mm diameter wafers made in Canada). It is shown that with minor modifications, the present single shift 500 kWp (kilowatt peak) per year capacity technology can be readily expanded to 1 MWp per year, adapted to square and polycrystalline substrates, and efficiencies increased above 13%.

Preparation of Thin Single Crystal Silicon Substrates for in situ Electron Microscope Studies

1973 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 120-121
Author(s):  
J. S. Maa ◽  
J. I. Lee ◽  
Thos. E. Hutchinson
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Single Crystal ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Thin Film Deposition ◽  
Film Deposition ◽  
Micro Milling ◽  
Crystal Silicon ◽  
Etching Technique

The in-situ electron microscope technique has been shown to be a powerful method for understanding the nucleation and growth of thin films formed both by vacuum vapor deposition and ion beam sputter-deposition. Single crystal silicon which has only been chosen as substrate for thin film deposition outside the electron microscope has now been prepared in a form suitable for in-situ deposition.The method of the preparation of thin silicon substrate is a combination of jet chemical etching and modified ion beam thinning. A specimen of thickness roughly 0.010 inch is first etched from both sides by the jet etching technique. After jet etching, it is transferred to the Commonwealth Scientific ion micro-milling instrument and bombarded from both sides with Argon ion beam. A pin hole occurs in the center of the specimen after about 30 minutes of ion bombardment.

Effect of thermal conductivity on the efficiency of single crystal silicon solar cell coated with an anti-reflective thin film

Solar Energy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (8) ◽  
pp. 1290-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.M. Gaitho ◽  
F.G. Ndiritu ◽  
P.M. Muriithi ◽  
R.G. Ngumbu ◽  
J.K. Ngareh
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Single Crystal ◽  
Silicon Solar Cell ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Crystal Silicon

scholarly journals Localised Tuneable Composition Single Crystal Silicon-Germanium-on-Insulator for Low Cost Devices

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Callum G. Littlejohns ◽  
Thalia Dominguez Bucio ◽  
Milos Nedeljkovic ◽  
Hong Wang ◽  
Goran Z. Mashanovich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Crystal ◽  
Silicon Photonics ◽  
Silicon Germanium ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Photonic Devices ◽  
Device Fabrication ◽  
Crystal Silicon ◽  
Seamless Integration ◽  
Active Devices

The realisation of high quality silicon-germanium-on-insulator (SGOI) is a major goal for the field of silicon photonics because it has the potential to enable extremely low power active devices functioning at the communication wavelengths of 1.3 μm and 1.55 μm. In addition, SGOI has the potential to form faster electronic devices such as BiCMOS transistors and could also form the backbone of a new silicon photonics platform that extends into the mid-IR wavelengths for applications in, amongst others, sensing and telecoms. In this paper, we present a novel method of forming single crystal, defect-free SGOI using a rapid melt growth technique. We use tailored structures to form localised uniform composition SGOI strips, which are suitable for the state-of-the-art device fabrication. This technique could pave the way for the seamless integration of electronic and photonic devices using only a single, low cost Ge deposition step.

Transient Thermal Resistance Test of Single-Crystal-Silicon Solar Cell

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (9) ◽  
pp. 2345-2349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihong Zhang ◽  
Yulin Gao ◽  
Yijun Lu ◽  
Lihong Zhu ◽  
Ziquan Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Thermal Resistance ◽  
Single Crystal ◽  
Silicon Solar Cell ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Resistance Test ◽  
Crystal Silicon ◽  
Transient Thermal

Improving Silicon Crystallinity by Grain Reorientation Annealing

2009 ◽  
Vol 1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine L. Saenger ◽  
Joel P. de Souza ◽  
Daniel Inns ◽  
Keith E. Fogel ◽  
Devendra K. Sadana
Keyword(s):  
Single Crystal ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Single Crystal Silicon ◽  
Chemical Vapor ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Silicon On Insulator ◽  
Crystal Silicon ◽  
Crystal Material ◽  
Si Films

AbstractDemand for high efficiency, low-cost solar cells has led to strong interest in post-deposition processing techniques that can improve the crystallinity of thick (1 to 40 μm) silicon films deposited at high growth rates. Here we describe a high temperature grain reorientation annealing process that enables the conversion of polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) into a single crystal material having the orientation of an underlying single crystal Si seed layer. Poly-Si films of thickness 0.5 to 1.0 μm were deposited by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) on substrates comprising a surface thermal oxide or a 100-oriented single crystal silicon-on-insulator (SOI) layer. After annealing at 1300 °C for 1 hour, poly-Si on oxide shows very significant grain growth, as expected. In contrast, the poly-Si deposited on SOI showed no grain boundaries after annealing, transforming into a single crystal material with a fairly high density of stacking faults. Possible uses and drawbacks of this approach for solar cell applications will be discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document