Optimized Wet Processes and PECVD for High-Efficiency Solar Cells

2012 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 297-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Kashkoush ◽  
G. Chen ◽  
D. Nemeth ◽  
J. Rieker
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Semiconductor Industry ◽  
Stacking Faults ◽  
Surface Preparation ◽  
Gate Oxide ◽  
Critical Surface ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Parameters ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
High Efficiency Solar Cells

The semiconductor industry considers wet cleans to be critical surface preparation steps. The Si/SiO2 interface, for example, is very critical to achieve high gate oxide integrity and avoid leakage or stacking faults. Similarly, the solar industry has seen the value of wet processes to achieve best cell performance. In this study, we highlight the effect of pre-cleans, texturization and final cleans on cell parameters. We also studied the importance of coupling these wet cleaning and texturization steps with the PECVD steps to achieve the film quality required for highest solar cell efficiency.

scholarly journals Monolike ingot growth by directional solidification of Solar Grade silicon

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-205
Author(s):  
A. A. Betekbaev ◽  
B. N. Mukashev ◽  
L. Pelissier ◽  
P. Lay ◽  
G. Fortin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Minority Carrier Lifetime ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Manufacturing Cost ◽  
Solar Grade Silicon ◽  
Chemical Route ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
High Efficiency Solar Cells ◽  
Grade Silicon

In the frame of permanent objective to increase solar cell efficiency and to decrease production cost the monolike ingot process was designed which combine multicrystalline (mc) productivity and monocrystalline structure performances. As a raw material the mc-Solar Grade silicon (SoG-Si) was used because it is less expensive than the Si purified by gas chemical route (Siemens process or equivalent), Usage of the mc-SoG-Si for growing silicon ingots by monolike process should contribute to the ingot and wafer manufacturing cost decrease. SoG silicon using would be developed all the more fast since it enables to produce high efficiency solar cells. It is why the monolike process have been tested and optimized for Kazakhstan mc-SoG silicon. The objective of this work was study of the higher level content impurities influences on the crystal defect generation (mainly dislocations) of the monocrystalline structure. Visual monocrystalline structure, minority carrier lifetime mapping, and photoluminescence techniques were used to study the monolike ingots obtained from Kazakhstan’s mc-SoG silicon.

High Efficiency Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells

2013 ◽  
Vol 750-752 ◽  
pp. 970-973
Author(s):  
Chun Rong Xue ◽  
Xia Yun Sun
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Amorphous Silicon ◽  
Triple Junction ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
High Efficiency Solar Cells ◽  
Alternative Material ◽  
Staebler Wronski Effect

High-efficiency solar cells based on amorphous silicon technology are designed. Multi-junction amorphous silicon solar cells are discussed, how these are made and how their performance can be understood and optimized. Although significant amount of work has been carried out in the last twenty-five years, the Staebler-Wronski effect has limited the development of a-Si:H solar cells. As an alternative material, nc-Si:H has attracted remarkable attention. Taking advantage of a lower degradation in nc-Si:H than a-Si:H and a-SiGe:H alloys, the light induced degradation in triple junction structures has been minimized by designing a bottom-cell-limited current mismatching, and obtained a stable active-area cell efficiency. All this has been investigated in this paper.

scholarly journals Block Textured a-Si:H Solar Cell

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Seung Jae Moon ◽  
Chang Min Keum ◽  
Ju-Yeon Kim ◽  
Jin Kuk Kim ◽  
Byung Seong Bae
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Glass Substrate ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Light Trapping ◽  
Steep Slope ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Block Height ◽  
Etching Profile ◽  
Glass Etching

A series of etching experiments on light trapping structure have been carried out by glass etching. The block structure provides long light traveling path and a constant distance between the cathode and anode electrodes regardless of the block height, which results in higher efficiency of the block textured solar cell. In terms of etching profile of the glass substrate, the addition of NH4F resulted in the smooth and clean etching profile, and the steep slope of the block was obtained by optimizing the composition of etching solution. For a higher HF concentration, a more graded slope was obtained and the addition of HNO3and NH4F provided steep slope and clean etching profile. The effects of the block textured glass were verified by a comparison of the solar cell efficiency. For the textured solar cell, the surface was much rougher than that of the plain glass, which also contributes to the improvement of the efficiency. We accomplished block shaped light trapping structure for the first time by wet etching of the glass substrate, which enables the high efficiency thin film solar cell with the aid of the good step coverage deposition.

High-Energy Electron and Proton Irradiation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Heterojunction Solar Cells

2001 ◽  
Vol 668 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jasenek ◽  
A. Boden ◽  
K. Weinert ◽  
M. R. Balboul ◽  
H. W. Schock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Proton Irradiation ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Heterojunction Solar Cells ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Radiation Induced ◽  
Induced Defects

ABSTRACTWe investigate radiation-induced defects in high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2/CdS/ZnO heterojunction solar cells after 1-MeV electron and 4-MeV proton irradiation. We use electron and proton fluences of more than 1018 cm−2 and up to 1014 cm−2, respectively. The irradiation experiments performed at three independent electron irradiation facilities consistently prove the superior radiation resistance of these Cu(In,Ga)Se2 devices compared to other types of solar cells. The reduction of the solar cell efficiency in all experiments is predominantly caused by a loss ΔVOC of the open circuit voltage VOC. An analytical model describes ΔVOC in terms of radiation-induced defects enhancing recombination in the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 absorber material. From our model we extract the defect introduction rates for recombination centers in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 for the respective particles and energies. Isochronal annealing steps fully recover VOC of the irradiated Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells. Exposure to temperatures of approx. 400 K are sufficient to restore the initial VOC within less than 5 %, even after excessive irradiation. The annealing process displays an activation energy of EA = 1.1 eV. Admittance spectroscopy directly reveals the generation and the annealing of radiation-induced defects.

Investigation into Efficiency-Limiting Defects in mc-Si Solar Cells

2015 ◽  
Vol 242 ◽  
pp. 96-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oras A. Al-Ani ◽  
Ahmed M. A. Sabaawi ◽  
J.P. Goss ◽  
N.E.B. Cowern ◽  
P.R. Briddon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Stacking Faults ◽  
Areal Density ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Recombination Processes ◽  
Cell Current ◽  
Carrier Traps ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Clear Change

First-principles quantum-chemical simulations are combined with TCAD device modelling to examine the impact of the intrinsic stacking faults and Σ5-(001) twist grain-boundaries on the performance of solar cell efficiency. We find from the combination of these computational methods, the optical properties of ideal stacking faults are similar to those of pure Si, whereas the optimised grainboundaryleads to a clear change in the real and imaginary parts of refractive index, increasing the solar-cell current density, and thus the solar cell efficiency. The impact at a device level is dependent upon the areal density of such material. So far as the optically absorption and carrier generation is concerned, segregation of diffusing iron at these planar defects has a negligible impact on device characteristics, but non-radiative recombination processes and carrier traps due to iron are expected to significantly affect efficiency in these regions.

Monte Carlo Modelisation of Photoexcited Carriers Relaxation Including Auger Effect in Narrow Band Gap InGaAs

2009 ◽  
Vol 1230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Tea ◽  
Frederic Aniel
Keyword(s):  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Band Gap ◽  
Carrier Concentration ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Carrier Lifetime ◽  
Narrow Band ◽  
Monte Carlo Model ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Auger Effect

AbstractThe Auger effect is one of the fastest recombination mechanisms in narrow band gap semiconductors at high carrier concentration. This regime is of great interest for high efficiency hot carrier solar cells application and is also involed in many optical devices. Therefore, the knowledge of this limitting process is required for the determination of carrier lifetime useful to accurate solar cell efficiency calculations. For the first time, we present a carrier lifetime study versus carrier concentration in InGaAs based on a Monte Carlo model where the Auger effect is included as a relaxation mecanism.

scholarly journals Influence of Front and Back Contacts on Photovoltaic Performances of p-n Homojunction Si Solar Cell: Considering an Electron-Blocking Layer

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Feroz Ali ◽  
Md. Faruk Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Work Function ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Blocking Layer ◽  
Back Contact ◽  
Electron Blocking Layer ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Si Solar Cell ◽  
Proposed Model

In this simultion work, the effect of front and back contacts of p-n homojunction Si solar cell with an electron-blocking layer (EBL) has been studied with the help of a strong solar cell simulator named AMPS-1D (analysis of microelectronic and photonic structures one dimensional). Without the effect of these contact parameters, low solar cell efficiency has been observed. Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) with high work function (5.45 eV) has been used as the front contact to the proposed solar cell. Zinc (Zn) metal which has a work function of 4.3 eV has been used as the back contact of the proposed model. With FTO as the front contact and Zn as the back contact, the optimum efficiency of 29.275% (Voc = 1.363 V, Jsc = 23.747 mA/cm2, FF = 0.905) has been observed. This type of simple Si-based p-n homojunction solar cell with EBL of high efficiency has been proposed in this paper.

scholarly journals Analytical Modeling of the Maximum Power Point with Series Resistance

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 10952
Author(s):  
Alfredo Sanchez Garcia ◽  
Rune Strandberg
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Analytical Modeling ◽  
Series Resistance ◽  
Maximum Power ◽  
Maximum Power Point ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Parameters ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Power Point ◽  
Analytical Expressions

This paper presents new analytical expressions for the maximum power point voltage, current, and power that have an explicit dependence on the series resistance. An explicit expression that relates the series resistance to well-known solar cell parameters was also derived. The range of the validity of the model, as well as the mathematical assumptions taken to derive it are explained and discussed. To test the accuracy of the derived model, a numerical single-diode model with solar cell parameters whose values can be found in the latest installment of the solar cell efficiency tables was used. The accuracy of the derived model was found to increase with increasing bandgap and to decrease with increasing series resistance. An experimental validation of the analytical model is provided and its practical limitations addressed. The new expressions predicted the maximum power obtainable by the studied cells with estimated errors below 0.1% compared to the numerical model, for typical values of the series resistance.

scholarly journals Thin-film Characterization

2021 ◽  
pp. 123-130
Author(s):  
Christopher Taudt
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Semiconductor Industry ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Low Coherence Interferometry ◽  
Thin Film Characterization ◽  
High Volume Production ◽  
Volume Production ◽  
Film Characteristics

AbstractThe third intended application for the proposed dispersion-encoded low-coherence interferometry is the evaluation of thin-film characteristics on substrate materials. Due to the usage of thin-film technologies in high-volume production in e.g. the photovoltaics and semiconductor industry, process monitoring becomes relevant in order to ensure functional parameters such as solar cell efficiency, [289]. In this context, film thickness as well as film homogeneity over large areas are important criteria for quality assurance.

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