Shunts in crystalline silicon solar cells can be physically removed and replaced with good cells to eliminate their influences, which is proved by the experiments in this paper. By infrared imaging and laser cutting, the shunted regions near the edges of cell A and in the middle of cell B were identified and removed with their efficiencies increased by 6Á8% and 3Á0%, respectively. After shunt removal, cell B was patched up with good cells and its final work current further increased from 3Á71 to 4Á11 A. The result implies that this work could improve the output power and current matching in a module for the repaired cell.
One of the challenges in fabricating high‐performance n‐type crystalline silicon (n‐type c‐Si) solar cells is the high‐quality n‐type c‐Si/metal contact. Schottky barriers are commonly found on the n‐type c‐Si/metal contact, which suppresses electron transportation. Herein, novel stacks of magnesium acetylacetonate (Mg(Acac)2)/magnesium (Mg)/silver (Ag) to form electron‐selective contacts for n‐type c‐Si solar cells are presented, which enables a dopant‐free process. An ohmic contact on n‐type c‐Si is formed using the Mg(Acac)2/Mg/Ag stacks. The transmission spectrum and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements show negligible conduction‐band offset and large valence‐band offset between Mg(Acac)2 and n‐type c‐Si, which indicates the electron‐transporting and hole‐blocking properties of Mg(Acac)2/n‐type c‐Si heterocontacts. Moreover, the contact resistivities (ρc) between the Mg(Acac)2/Mg/Ag electron‐selective heterocontacts and n‐type c‐Si substrates are lower than 10 mΩ cm2, which demonstrates the good electrode properties of the Mg(Acac)2/Mg/Ag stacks. The Mg(Acac)2/Mg/Ag electron‐selective stacks are applied on n‐type c‐Si solar cells with partial rear contact, and >20% efficiency is achieved, which is higher than that in a reference cell with only Ag contact. The stability of the n‐type c‐Si solar cell performance equipped with Mg(Acac)2/Mg/Ag contacts is verified under ambient conditions. This novel low‐temperature contact technique offers a reliable alternative for high‐performance n‐type c‐Si solar cells.
In this paper, 156 mm×156 mm boron-doped Czochralski silicon (Cz-Si) wafers were fabricated into PERC solar cells by using the industrial standard process; then, the as-prepared PERC solar cells were treated by the regeneration process using electrical injection and heating and the effects of different regeneration processes (temperature, time, and injection current) on the anti-light-induced degradation (anti-LID) performance of the PERC solar cells were investigated. The results show that under the condition of 10 A injection current and 30 min processing time, the optimal processing temperature is about 180°C for PERC solar cells to obtain the best anti-LID performance. Under the conditions of a temperature of 180°C, an injection current of 10 A, and a processing time of 0-30 min, the anti-LID performance of the PERC solar cells is enhanced with the increase in the processing time. When the processing time is 20 and 30 min, the efficiency, the short-circuit current, and the open-circuit voltage of the processed PERC solar cells are slightly higher than the initial values before the regeneration and remain stable in the subsequent 12-hour light degradation process at 45°C and 1-sun illumination. At a temperature of 180°C and a processing time of 30 min, the injection current of 6 A is enough to obtain a good regeneration effect, but the optimal injection current is around 10 A.
Silicon solar cells that employ passivating contacts featuring a heavily doped polysilicon layer on a thin silicon oxide (TOPCon) have been demonstrated to facilitate remarkably high cell efficiencies, amongst the highest achieved to date using a single junction on a silicon substrate. Importantly, it has been shown that the polysiliconbased passivating contacts have a high degree of compatibility with existing mass production processes and toolsets, making them an attractive choice for photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturers to increase the efficiency of their products. With several large PV manufacturers recently announcing plans to push the TOPCon technology into mass production, we review the significant industrial research and development activities that have been undertaken to push the boundaries of the technology and optimise its integration into the existing mass production pipeline. From an industrial perspective, TOPCon fabrication methodology options as well as necessary technological advances in front-side fabrication, cell metallisation and module integration are discussed. The TOPCon technology development is contextualised in terms of larger trends in PV manufacturing, and we look towards the direction of future industrial development.
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