Reduction of trapping and recombination in upgraded metallurgical grade silicon: Impact of phosphorous diffusion gettering

Dasilva-Villanueva, Nerea; Catalán‐Gómez, Sergio; Marrón, D. Fuertes; Torres, Juan J.; García-Corpas, Miguel; Cañizo, Carlos del

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2021.111410

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…At low injection levels, trapping effects commonly observed in multicrystalline materials are clearly seen. The impact of carrier trapping in UMG-Si has been analyzed in detail elsewhere (Catalán-Gómez et al, 2021;Dasilva-Villanueva et al, 2022).…”

Section: Crystallization and Wafering: Characterization Before And Af...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Production of upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon for a low-cost, high-efficiency, and reliable PV technology

Míguez Novoa,

Hoffmann,

Forniés

et al. 2024

Front. Photon.

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Upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon (UMG-Si) has the potential to reduce the cost of photovoltaic (PV) technology and improve its environmental profile. In this contribution, we summarize the extensive work made in the research and development of UMG technology for PV, which has led to the demonstration of UMG-Si as a competitive alternative to polysilicon for the production of high-efficiency multicrystalline solar cells and modules. The tailoring of the processing steps along the complete Ferrosolar’s UMG-Si manufacturing value chain is addressed, commencing with the purification stage that results in a moderately compensated material due to the presence of phosphorous and boron. Gallium is added as a dopant at the crystallization stage to obtain a uniform resistivity profile of ∼1 Ω cm along the ingot height. Defect engineering techniques based on phosphorus diffusion gettering are optimized to improve the bulk electronic quality of UMG-Si wafers. Black silicon texturing, compatible with subsequent gettering and surface passivation, is successfully implemented. Industrial-type aluminum back surface field (Al-BSF) and passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) solar cells are fabricated, achieving cell efficiencies in the range of those obtained with conventional polysilicon substrates. TOPCon solar cell processing key steps are also tested to further evaluate the potential of the material in advanced device architectures beyond the PERC. Degradation mechanisms related to light exposure and operation temperature are shown to be insignificant in UMG PERC solar cells when a regeneration step is implemented, and PV modules with several years of outdoor operation demonstrated similar performance to reference ones based on poly-Si. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is carried out to evaluate the environmental impact of UMG-based PV technology when compared to poly-Si-based technology, considering different scenarios for both the manufacturing sites and the PV installations.

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Section: Crystallization and Wafering: Characterization Before And Af...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Production of upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon for a low-cost, high-efficiency, and reliable PV technology

Míguez Novoa,

Hoffmann,

Forniés

et al. 2024

Front. Photon.

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“…Among them, phosphorous diffusion gettering (PDG), an industrial compatible process commonly used during emitter formation in standard solar cell technology, has proved effective in improving the performance of UMG-Si. [7][8][9][10][11] The PDG process is used for driving diluted impurities, particularly transition metals, towards the wafer surface, where they can be effectively removed following an etching process. As a result, PDG-treated UMG-Si wafers have shown improved charge carrier lifetimes when compared with reference samples; [10,12,13] however, little is known yet about the impact of specific PDG treatments on UMG-Si-related charge carrier mobilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boosting Charge Carrier Mobilities in Upgraded Metallurgical Grade Silicon by Phosphorous Diffusion Gettering

Revuelta

Dasilva-Villanueva

Marrón

et al. 2022

Adv Energy and Sustain Res

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Herein, it is demonstrated how the carrier mobility and carrier lifetime of upgraded‐metallurgical grade silicon (UMG‐Si), a feedstock alternative to electronic‐grade, high‐purity polysilicon dominating photovoltaic technology, can be largely improved upon the gettering action of industrially compatible phosphorous diffusion gettering (PDG) process at the wafer level. The results, based on ultrafast THz spectroscopy and inductively coupled photoconductive decay measurements, show outstanding increments in the carrier lifetime of PDG‐treated multi‐crystalline UMG‐Si wafers from 50 ps to 25 μs and a boost in intra‐grain charge carrier mobility from 283 ± 37 up to 726 ± 23 cm2 Vs−1. Most remarkably, the latter figure parallels the carrier mobility observed in monocrystalline wafers manufactured from polysilicon, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness of a simple pre‐conditioning step in upgrading the electronic properties of UMG‐Si up to the device level.

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Validation of recycling processes for demetallisation and recrystallisation of silicon solar cells

Tierno,

Hernández Ruiz,

Taboada

et al. 2024

Solar Energy

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Reduction of trapping and recombination in upgraded metallurgical grade silicon: Impact of phosphorous diffusion gettering

Cited by 3 publications

References 35 publications

Production of upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon for a low-cost, high-efficiency, and reliable PV technology

Production of upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon for a low-cost, high-efficiency, and reliable PV technology

Boosting Charge Carrier Mobilities in Upgraded Metallurgical Grade Silicon by Phosphorous Diffusion Gettering

Validation of recycling processes for demetallisation and recrystallisation of silicon solar cells

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