Achievements and challenges in thin film silicon module production

Stannowski, Bernd; Gabriel, Onno; Calnan, Sonya; Frijnts, Tim; Heidelberg, Andreas; Neubert, S.; Kirner, Simon; Ring, Sven; Zelt, Matthias; Rau, B.; Zollondz, J.-H.; Bloeß, Harald; Schlatmann, Rutger; Rech, Bernd

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2013.06.043

Cited by 33 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Also, PECVD is a well proven technique for uniform deposition on an industrially relevant substrate size above a 1 m 2 area. 2, 18 It is now appreciated that surface passivation by a silicon dielectric combined with bulk passivation using a hydrogen plasma is necessary to increase the solar cell efficiency of thin ≤10 μm thick c-Si on glass. 6,8,9,19 However, thus far, the influence of the chemical composition and structure of the passivating silicon dielectric material in combination with an additional hydrogen passivation of the c-Si on glass has not been specifically investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Chemical Composition and Structure in Silicon Dielectric Materials on Passivation of Thin Crystalline Silicon on Glass

Calnan

Gabriel

Rothert

et al. 2015

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, various silicon dielectric films, namely, a-SiOx:H, a-SiNx:H, and a-SiOxNy:H, grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) were evaluated for use as interlayers (ILs) between crystalline silicon and glass. Chemical bonding analysis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that high values of oxidant gases (CO2 and/or N2), added to SiH4 during PECVD, reduced the Si-H and N-H bond density in the silicon dielectrics. Various three layer stacks combining the silicon dielectric materials were designed to minimize optical losses between silicon and glass in rear side contacted heterojunction pn test cells. The PECVD grown silicon dielectrics retained their functionality despite being subjected to harsh subsequent processing such as crystallization of the silicon at 1414 °C or above. High values of short circuit current density (Jsc; without additional hydrogen passivation) required a high density of Si-H bonds and for the nitrogen containing films, additionally, a high N-H bond density. Concurrently high values of both Jsc and open circuit voltage Voc were only observed when [Si-H] was equal to or exceeded [N-H]. Generally, Voc correlated with a high density of [Si-H] bonds in the silicon dielectric; otherwise, additional hydrogen passivation using an active plasma process was required. The highest Voc ∼ 560 mV, for a silicon acceptor concentration of about 10(16) cm(-3), was observed for stacks where an a-SiOxNy:H film was adjacent to the silicon. Regardless of the cell absorber thickness, field effect passivation of the buried silicon surface by the silicon dielectric was mandatory for efficient collection of carriers generated from short wavelength light (in the vicinity of the glass-Si interface). However, additional hydrogen passivation was obligatory for an increased diffusion length of the photogenerated carriers and thus Jsc in solar cells with thicker absorbers.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Chemical Composition and Structure in Silicon Dielectric Materials on Passivation of Thin Crystalline Silicon on Glass

Calnan

Gabriel

Rothert

et al. 2015

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, further cost reductions will require less material and energy consumption in the production process. On the other hand, thin-film silicon based solar cells are produced with less material and energy consumption, but the efficiencies are still limited to 12% to 13.4% for laboratory-scale solar cells [6], [7], despite intensive research and development in this field over the past several decades. Thin-film deposition technology has some vital advantages over wafer-based manufacturing: silicon layers as well as contact and passivation layers can be deposited uniformly over several square meter areas, for example, 5.72 m 2 in an Applied Materials Sunfab production line [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

PECVD Intermediate and Absorber Layers Applied in Liquid-Phase Crystallized Silicon Solar Cells on Glass Substrates

Gabriel

Frijnts²,

Calnan

et al. 2014

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Liquid-phase crystallized silicon absorber layers have been applied in heterojunction solar cells on glass substrates with 10.8% conversion efficiency and an open-circuit voltage of 600 mV. Intermediate layers of SiO x , SiN x , and SiO x N y , as well as the a-Si:H precursor layer, were deposited on 30 cm × 30 cm glass substrates using industrial-type plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition equipment. After crystallization on 3 cm × 5 cm area using a continuous-wave infrared laser line, the resulting polysilicon material showed high material quality with large grain sizes. Index Terms-Heterojunction, liquid-phase crystallization, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), thin-film silicon.

show abstract

“…The first category is the most common all over the world (European Photovoltaic Industry Association, 2010), with a stable and predictable performance over time; the second is an emerging technology at commercial level, with very competitive manufacturing costs (Stannowski et al, 2013;Chopra et al, 2004;Zweibel, 1999), and the third achieves a very high energy conversion efficie ncy among the PV products for civil uses actually available on the market (Taguchi et al, 2014;Tsunomura et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%