Study of Large Area a-Si:H and nc-Si:H Based Multijunction Solar Cells and Materials

2008 ◽  
Vol 1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xixiang Xu ◽  
Baojie Yan ◽  
Dave Beglau ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Greg DeMaggio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Deposition Rate ◽  
Plasma Deposition ◽  
Nanocrystalline Silicon ◽  
High Rate ◽  
High Deposition Rate ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Spatial Uniformity ◽  
Double Junction

ABSTRACTSolar cells based on hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) have demonstrated significant improvement in the last few years. From the standpoint of commercial viability, good quality nc-Si:H films must be deposited at a high rate. In this paper, we present the results of our investigations on obtaining high quality nc-Si:H and a-Si:H films and solar cells over large areas using high deposition rate. We have employed the modified very high frequency (MVHF) glow discharge technique to realize high-rate deposition. Modeling studies were conducted to attain good spatial uniformity of electric field over a large area (15”×1”) MVHF cathode for nc-Si:H deposition. A comparative study has been carried out between the RF and MVHF plasma deposited a-Si:H and nc-Si:H single-junction and a-Si:H/nc-Si:H double-junction solar cells. By optimizing the nc-Si:H cell and the tunnel/recombination junctions, we have obtained an initial aperture-area (460 cm2) efficiency of 11.9% for a-Si:H/nc-Si:H double-junction cells using conventional RF (13.56 MHz) plasma deposition. The deposition rate was 3 Å/sec. Results on solar cells made with MVHF will also be presented.

High-efficiency Large-area Nanocrystalline Silicon Solar Cells Using MVHF Technology

2010 ◽  
Vol 1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xixiang Xu ◽  
Tining Su ◽  
Scott Ehlert ◽  
David Bobela ◽  
Dave Beglau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Film Growth ◽  
Nanocrystalline Silicon ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Spatial Uniformity ◽  
Very High ◽  
Indoor And Outdoor ◽  
Made In

AbstractWe present the progress made in attaining high-efficiency large-area nc-Si:H based multi-junction solar cells using Modified Very High Frequency technology. We focused our effort on improving the spatial uniformity and homogeneity of nc-Si:H film growth and cell performance. We also conducted both indoor and outdoor light soaking studies and achieved 11.2% stabilized efficiency on large-area (≥400 cm2) encapsulated a-Si:H/nc-Si:H/nc-Si:H triple-junction cells.

Correlation between Powder in the Plasma and Stability of High Rate Deposited a-Si:H

2005 ◽  
Vol 862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guozhen Yue ◽  
Gautam Ganguly ◽  
Baojie Yan ◽  
Jeffrey Yang ◽  
Subhendu Guha
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Light Intensity ◽  
Scattered Light ◽  
Scattered Light Intensity ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Invasive Technique ◽  
High Deposition Rate ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Silicon Photodiode ◽  
Non Invasive

AbstractHydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells incorporating high deposition rate (8-10Å/s) intrinsic layers were deposited using modified very high frequency (MVHF) plasma. We have monitored the light scattered from powder generated in the plasma using an Ar-laser and a silicon photodiode. This simple, non-invasive technique allows us to make measurements on the same reactor used to make the solar cells. First, we have varied the total flow rate and observed a maximum in the scattered light intensity from powder in the plasma during the deposition of the intrinsic layer, and correlated this with the degradation, as well as the stabilized performance of the solar cells. Then, we have studied the effects of varying the deposition temperature and/or the addition of germane to the gas mixture on the scattered light intensity due to powder in the plasma.

Large-Area Hydrogenated Amorphous and Microcrystalline Silicon Double-Junction Solar Cells

2004 ◽  
Vol 808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baojie Yan ◽  
Guozhen Yue ◽  
Arindam Banerjee ◽  
Jeffrey Yang ◽  
Subhendu Guha
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Deposition Time ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Area Efficiency ◽  
Rf Glow Discharge ◽  
Double Junction ◽  
Junction Structure ◽  
Hydrogenated Amorphous

ABSTRACTHydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon ( c-Si:H) double-junction solar cells were deposited on a large-area substrate using a RF glow discharge technique at various rates. The thickness uniformity for both a-Si:H and c-Si:H is well within ± 10% and the reproducibility is very good. Preliminary results from the large-area a-Si:H/m c-Si:H double-junction structures show an initial aperture-area efficiency of 11.8% and 11.3%, respectively, for 45 cm2 and 461 cm2 size un-encapsulated solar cells. The 11.3% cell became 10.6% after encapsulation and stabilized at 9.5% after prolonged light soaking under 100 mW/cm2 of white light at 50°C. High rate deposition of the c-Si:H layer in the bottom cell was made using the high-pressure approach. An initial active-area (0.25 cm2) efficiency of 11.3% was achieved using an a-Si:H/m c-Si:H double-junction structure with 50 minutes of c-Si:H deposition time.

High Efficiency Large Area a-Si:H and a-SiGe:H Multi-junction Solar Cells Using MVHF at High Deposition Rate

2009 ◽  
Vol 1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xixiang Xu ◽  
Dave Beglau ◽  
Scott Ehlert ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Tining Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
High Deposition Rate ◽  
Discharge Process ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Cell Structures ◽  
Evolution Characteristics ◽  
Stable Performance ◽  
Sun Light

AbstractWe have developed high efficiency large area a-Si:H and a-SiGe:H multi-junction solar cells using a Modified Very High Frequency (MVHF) glow discharge process. We conducted a comparative study for different cell structures, and compared the initial and stable performance and light-induced degradation of solar cells made using MVHF and RF techniques. Besides high efficiency, the MVHF cells also demonstrate superior light stability, showing <10% degradation after 1000 hour of one-sun light soaking at 50 °C. We also studied light-induced defect level and hydrogen evolution characteristics of MVHF deposited a-SiGe:H films and compared them with the RF deposited films.

High-Rate PECVD of Low Defect Density a-Si:H on Large Areas

1997 ◽  
Vol 467 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Röhlecke ◽  
O. Steinke ◽  
F. Schade ◽  
F. Stahr ◽  
M. Albert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Deposition Rate ◽  
Defect Density ◽  
Plasma Reactor ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
High Deposition Rate ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Particle Generation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Deposition Processes

ABSTRACTIndustrial production of amorphous silicon solar cells, photoreceptors and several opto-electronic devices requires large area, high-deposition-rate plasma reactors and deposition processes. Non-uniformity of die film thickness and particle generation at high power densities as well as the deposition rate are found to be important limiting factors in large area PECVD.The deposition was performed in a capacitively-coupled coaxial diode rf glow discharge with large areas (1000 cm2 and 2000 cm2) at 13.56 MHz and 27.12 MHz. We studied the particle generation in the plasma reactor over a wide range of silane concentration (20 % to 100 %) in the SiH4/He mixture. We will present the opto-electronic properties of a-Si:H films and the influence of the substrate bias. The films are characterized by dark- and photoconductivity and by PDS.It was confirmed through this study that helium dilution is effective in the suppression of powder growth for high-rate deposition up to 18 μm/hr. Special attention was paid to the optimization of reactor design and plasma conditions for the deposition of low density of states a-Si:H (∼1016 cm−3) at deposition rates of up to 18 μm/hr. Darkconductivity was 10−9 S/cm and photoconductivity was about 5.10−4 S/cm.

Comparative Study of MVHF and RF Deposited Large Area Multi-junction Solar Cells Incorporating Hydrogenated Nano-Crystalline Silicon

2009 ◽  
Vol 1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xixiang Xu ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Scott Ehlert ◽  
Tining Su ◽  
Dave Beglau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Steel Substrate ◽  
Process Conditions ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Very High Frequency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Structures ◽  
Nano Crystalline ◽  
Double Junction

AbstractWe report our investigations of large area multi-junction solar cells based on hydrogenated nano-crystalline silicon (nc-Si:H). We compared results from cells deposited by RF (13.56 MHz) at lower deposition rate (˜3 Å/s) and by Modified Very High Frequency (MVHF) at higher rate (≥ 10 Å/s). With optimized process conditions and cell structures, we have obtained ˜12% initial small active-area (˜0.25 cm2) efficiency for both RF and MVHF cells and 10˜11% large aperture-area (˜400 cm2) encapsulated MVHF cell efficiency for both a-Si:H/nc-Si:H double-junction and a-Si:H/nc-Si:H/nc-Si:H triple-junction structures on Ag/ZnO coated stainless steel substrate.

In-Situ Observation of High Deposition Rate Hydrogenated Polymorphous Silicon Cell Degradation through Variable Intensity Method Measurements

2009 ◽  
Vol 1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik V Johnson ◽  
Ka-Hyun Kim ◽  
Pere Roca i Cabarrocas
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Deposition Rate ◽  
High Growth ◽  
High Growth Rate ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
High Rate ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
High Deposition Rate ◽  
Degradation Behaviour ◽  
Variable Intensity

AbstractThe efficiencies of hydrogenated polymorphous silicon (pm-Si:H) solar cells have been previously demonstrated to show superior stability under light-soaking. This stability arises due to the fact that the decrease they show in fill factor (FF) is partially offset by an accompanying increase in open circuit voltage (VOC). Recently, high-deposition rate (9Å/s) pm-Si:H material deposited by standard RF-PECVD at 13.56MHz has been investigated as the intrinsic layer in photovoltaic modules as it has shown excellent electronic properties. The degradation behaviour of these high-deposition rate cells, however, differs significantly from that of lower deposition rate material. In particular, no beneficial increase in Voc is observed during light soaking. We investigate the degradation dynamics of solar cells made from this high growth rate material using a Variable Illumination Method (VIM) during light soaking to quantify the changes to these high-rate cells during light-soaking and directly contrast them with those of low-rate (1.5Å/s) cells. In particular, we discuss the importance of bulk recombination effects vs interface quality changes, as well as the dynamics of changes in VOC.

High Efficiency, Large Area, Nanocrystalline Silicon Based, Triple-Junction Solar Cells

2011 ◽  
Vol 1321 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Banerjee ◽  
T. Su ◽  
D. Beglau ◽  
G. Pietka ◽  
F. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Oxygen Concentration ◽  
Small Area ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Steel Substrate ◽  
Impurity Content ◽  
Nanocrystalline Silicon ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Low Rate

ABSTRACTWe have fabricated large-area, thin-film multijunction solar cells based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) made in a large area batch reactor. The device structure consisted of an a-Si:H/nc-Si:H/nc-Si:H stack on Ag/ZnO back reflector coated stainless steel substrate, deposited using our proprietary High Frequency (HF) glow discharge technique. For the nc-Si:H films, we investigated two deposition rate regimes: (i) low rate <1 nm/s and (ii) high rate >1 nm/s. We optimized the deposition parameters, such as pressure, gas flow, dilution, and power. We did SIMS analysis on the optimized films, and found the impurity concentrations were one order of magnitude lower than the films made with the conventional RF process. In particular, the oxygen concentration is reduced to ~1018 cm-3. This value is among the lowest oxygen concentration reported in literature. The low impurity content is attributed to proprietary cathode hardware and the optimized deposition process. During the initial optimization and investigative phase, we fabricated small-area (0.25 cm2 and 1.1 cm2) cells. The information obtained from the initial phase was used to fabricate large-area (aperture area 400 cm2) cells, and encapsulated the cells using the same flexible encapsulants that are used in our commercial product. We have light soaked the low-rate and high-rate encapsulated modules. The highest initial efficiency of the low-rate modules is 12.0% as confirmed by NREL. The highest corresponding stable efficiency attained for the low-rate samples cells is 11.35%. For the high-rate small-area (1.1 cm2) cells, the highest initial active-area efficiency and corresponding stable efficiency attained are 13.97% and 12.9%, respectively. We present the details of the research conducted to develop the low- and high-rate cells and modules.

Controlling Structural Evolution by VHF Power Profiling Technique for High-efficiency Microcrystalline Silicon Solar Cells at High Deposition Rate

2009 ◽  
Vol 1153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guofu Hou ◽  
Xiaoyan Han ◽  
Changchun Wei ◽  
Xiaodan Zhang ◽  
Guijun Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Deposition Rate ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
High Rate ◽  
High Deposition Rate ◽  
Microcrystalline Silicon ◽  
Solar Cell Performance ◽  
Power Profiling

AbstractHigh rate deposition of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films and solar cells were prepared by very high frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) process in a high power and high pressure regime. The experiment results demonstrate that in high-rate deposited μc-Si:H films, the structural evolution is much more dramatic than that in low-rate deposited μc-Si:H films. A novel VHF power profiling technique, which was designed by dynamically decreasing the VHF power step by step during the deposition of μc-Si:H intrinsic layers, has been developed to control the structural evolution along the growth direction. Another advantage of this VHF power profiling technique is the reduced ion bombardments on growth surface because of decreasing the VHF power. Using this method, a significant improvement in the solar cell performance has been achieved. A high conversion efficiency of 9.36% (Voc=542mV, Jsc=25.4mA/cm2, FF=68%) was obtained for a single junction μc-Si:H p-i-n solar cell with i-layer deposited at deposition rate over 10 �/s.

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