Manufacturing 100-µm-thick silicon solar cells with efficiencies greater than 20% in a pilot production line

Abstract

Present address: Arizona State University, School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, 551 E. Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.Reducing wafer thickness while increasing power conversion efficiency is the most effective way to reduce cost per Watt of a silicon photovoltaic module. Within the European project 20 percent efficiency on less than 100-mm-thick, industrially feasible crystalline silicon solar cells ("20plms"), we study the whole process chain for thin wafers, from wafering to module integration and life-cycle analysis. We investigate three different solar cell fabrication routes, categorized according to the temperature of the junction formation process and the wafer doping type: p-type silicon high temperature, n-type silicon high temperature and n-type silicon low temperature. For each route, an efficiency of 19.5% or greater is achieved on wafers less than 100 mm thick, with a maximum efficiency of 21.1% on an 80-mm-thick wafer. The n-type high temperature route is then transferred to a pilot production line, and a median solar cell efficiency of 20.0% is demonstrated on 100-mm-thick wafers.

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Industrially feasible, dopant‐free, carrier‐selective contacts for high‐efficiency silicon solar cells

“…Reducing the thickness of silicon wafers with only a small efficiency loss is an attractive option for reducing the production cost of silicon solar cells . However, a simple fabrication flow is necessary to process ultrathin wafers to reduce the breakage rate.…”

Electrodeposition of Photoactive Silicon Films for Low-Cost Solar Cells

“…5 Recently, research has focused on thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells to decrease the Si cost per peak watt. [6][7][8] Thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells not only reduce the amount of silicon used, but also promise low-cost processing and lightweight mechanical flexibility for modules. With effective anti-reflection and light trapping, 10% and 13.7% power conversion efficiency results have been achieved on the ∼2 μm and ∼10 μm thick crystalline silicon solar cell respectively.…”