Analysis of Thermal Processes Driving Laser Welding of Aluminum Deposited on Glass Substrates for Module Interconnection of Silicon Solar Cells

Nanocrystalline hydrogenated silicon (nc-Si:H) substrate configuration n-i-p solar cells have been fabricated on soda lime glass substrates with active absorber layers prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The cells with nanocrystalline PECVD absorbers and an untextured back reflector serve as a baseline for comparison and have power conversion efficiency near 6%. By comparison, cells with sputtered absorbers achieved efficiencies of about 1%. Simulations of external quantum efficiency (EQE) are compared to experimental EQE to determine a carrier collection probability gradient with depth for the device with the sputtered i-layer absorber. This incomplete collection of carriers generated in the absorber is most pronounced in material near the n/i interface and is attributed to breaking vacuum between deposition of layers for the sputtered absorbers, possible low electronic quality of the nc-Si:H sputtered absorber, and damage at the n/i interface by over-deposition of the sputtered i-layer during device fabrication.

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Modulated surface-textured substrates with high haze for thin-film silicon solar cells

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2011.945 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1321 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

O. Isabella ◽

P. Liu ◽

B. Bolman ◽

J. Krč ◽

M. Zeman

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Surface Roughness ◽

Zinc Oxide ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Sacrificial Layer ◽

Flat Glass ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Glass Substrates ◽

Thin Film Silicon ◽

Surface Modulation

ABSTRACTModulated surface-textured substrates for thin-film silicon solar cells exhibiting high haze in a broad range of wavelengths were fabricated. Glass substrates coated with different thicknesses of a sacrificial layer were wet-etched allowing the manipulation of the surface morphology with surface roughness ranging from 200 nm up to 1000 nm. Subsequently, zinc-oxide layers were sputtered and then wet-etched constituting the final modulated textures. The morphological analysis of the substrates demonstrated the surface modulation, and the optical analysis revealed broad angle intensity distributions and high hazes. A small anti-reflective effect with respect to untreated glass was found for etched glass samples. The performance of solar cells on high-haze substrates was evaluated. The solar cells outperformed the reference cell fabricated on a randomly-textured zinc-oxide-coated flat glass. The trend in the efficiency resembled the increased surface roughness and the anti-reflective effect was confirmed also in solar cell devices.

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Improving low pressure chemical vapor deposited zinc oxide contacts for thin film silicon solar cells by using rough glass substrates

Thin Solid Films ◽

10.1016/j.tsf.2011.06.080 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 520 (4) ◽

pp. 1218-1222 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

J. Steinhauser ◽

J.-F. Boucher ◽

E. Omnes ◽

D. Borrello ◽

E. Vallat-Sauvain ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Zinc Oxide ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Chemical Vapor ◽

Low Pressure ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Glass Substrates ◽

Thin Film Silicon ◽

Chemical Vapor Deposited ◽

Pressure Chemical

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Transport analysis for polycrystalline silicon solar cells on glass substrates

Conference Record of the Twenty Sixth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1997 ◽

10.1109/pvsc.1997.654169 ◽

2002 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

R. Brendel ◽

R.B. Bergmann ◽

B. Fischer ◽

J. Krinke ◽

R. Plieninger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Polycrystalline Silicon ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Glass Substrates ◽

Transport Analysis

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Scattering, Diffraction, and Geometric Light Trapping in Thin Film Amorphous Silicon Solar Cells on Plastic Substrates

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2012.1273 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 1426 ◽

pp. 155-160 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

M.M. de Jong ◽

J. Baggerman ◽

C.J.M. van Rijn ◽

P.J. Sonneveld ◽

G.L.A.M. Swinkels ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Amorphous Silicon ◽

Light Trapping ◽

Flat Glass ◽

Silicon Solar Cells ◽

Plastic Substrates ◽

Glass Substrates ◽

Current Densities ◽

Hydrogenated Amorphous ◽

Geometric Effects

ABSTRACTIn this study we compare light trapping in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells deposited directly onto polycarbonate (PC) at low temperature (< 130°C). To that end, we embossed PC substrates with 400 nm and 10 μm square based pyramids to induce light trapping based on diffraction and on geometric effects. As a comparison, we deposited a-Si:H cells on flat glass substrates and on Asahi U-type TCO glass. The cells on PC generate current densities comparable (slightly higher) than cells on Asahi TCO glass, but suffer from a slightly lower Voc, resulting in cells with an initial efficiency of 6.8% and 7.4% on sub-micron pyramid and micro-pyramid structured PC substrates respectively, compared to 7.6% for cells on Asahi. This shows great potential for a-Si:H cells deposited directly onto cheap plastics.

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