Texturing optimization for bifacial n-PERT: are pyramids and/or black silicon the way to go for thinner devices?

Peyronnet, Rafaël; Fischer, Guillaume; Blévin, Thomas; Johnson, Erik; Drahi, Etienne; Lemiti, M.

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2017.09.296

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Nevertheless, we want to stress that the heavy silicon consumption is a feature of the specific b‐Si etching process used in this study and could be drastically reduced by further optimization of the DRIE process. The reduced IQE in the b‐Si cells may be also contributed by weaker light‐trapping due to the nanometer‐scale dimensions of the nanostructure, which could be enhanced by coupling b‐Si with micrometer‐sized pyramid texture …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, the magnitude of LeTID in our cells seems to scale rather with surface area than wafer thickness: b-Si cells with the largest surface area (ratio to polished surface S f ≈ 5-732,48 ) experience the weakest degradation, followed by acidic-textured cells (S f ≈ 2 49,50 ), and the strongest LeTID is shown at the edges of b-Si cells, which were chemically polished by SDR.Nevertheless, we want to stress that the heavy silicon consumption is a feature of the specific b-Si etching process used in this study and could be drastically reduced by further optimization of the DRIE process. The reduced IQE in the b-Si cells may be also contributed by weaker light-trapping due to the nanometer-scale dimensions of the nanostructure, which could be enhanced by coupling b-Si with micrometer-sized pyramid texture 51. Another important aspect affecting the magnitude of LeTID is the applied firing process [12][13][14][15].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Impact of black silicon on light‐ and elevated temperature‐induced degradation in industrial passivated emitter and rear cells

Pasanen

Modanese

Vähänissi

et al. 2018

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Light and elevated‐temperature induced degradation (LeTID) is currently a severe issue in passivated emitter and rear cells (PERC). In this work, we study the impact of surface texture, especially a black silicon (b‐Si) nanostructure, on LeTID in industrial p‐type mc‐Si PERC. Our results show that during standard LeTID conditions the b‐Si cells with atomic‐layer‐deposited aluminum oxide (AlOx) front surface passivation show no degradation despite the presence of a hydrogen‐rich AlOx/SiNx passivation stack on the rear. Furthermore, b‐Si solar cells passivated with silicon nitride (SiNx) on the front lose only 1.5%rel of their initial power conversion efficiency, while the acidic‐textured equivalents degrade by nearly 4%rel under the same conditions. Correspondingly, clear degradation is visible in the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the acidic‐textured cells, especially in the ~850 to 1100‐nm wavelength range confirming that the degradation occurs in the bulk, while the IQE remains nearly unaffected in the b‐Si cells. The observations are supported by spatially resolved photoluminescence (PL) maps, which show a clear contrast in the degradation behavior of b‐Si and acidic‐textured cells, especially in the case of SiNx front surface passivation. The PL maps also suggest that the magnitude of LeTID scales with surface area of the texture, rather than wafer thickness that was recently reported, although the b‐Si cells are slightly thinner (140 vs 165 μm). The results indicate that b‐Si has a positive impact on LeTID, and hence, benefits provided by b‐Si are not limited only to the excellent optical properties, as commonly understood.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of black silicon on light‐ and elevated temperature‐induced degradation in industrial passivated emitter and rear cells

Pasanen

Modanese

Vähänissi

et al. 2018

Progress in Photovoltaics

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“…First it is clear from the technical literature [26,77,78] that there is still more work to be done to optimize the black mc-Si PERC. For example, studies could look at the optimization of b-Si emitter diffusion [46,79] or contact formation [80] processes or surface morphology to find a balance between reflectance and light trapping [81] and the threshold for the defect levels present after RIE (i.e., the quality of the b-Si in the literature may be above the economic optimum), which could be funded by traditional university research funding programs from national funders such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy in the U.S. and Horizon 2020 [82] in Europe. There is also an opportunity to develop a hybrid process (RIE + ALD) to reduce capex as both are plasma processes and ideally could be realized in one process chamber (or even in an inline tool).…”

Section: Policies For Research Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Advantages of Dry-Etched Black Silicon in Passivated Emitter Rear Cell (PERC) Photovoltaic Manufacturing

et al. 2018

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Industrial Czochralski silicon (Cz-Si) photovoltaic (PV) efficiencies have routinely reached >20% with the passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) design. Nanostructuring silicon (black-Si) by dry-etching decreases surface reflectance, allows diamond saw wafering, enhances metal gettering, and may prevent power conversion efficiency degradation under light exposure. Black-Si allows a potential for >20% PERC cells using cheaper multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) materials, although dry-etching is widely considered too expensive for industrial application. This study analyzes this economic potential by comparing costs of standard texturized Cz-Si and black mc-Si PERC cells. Manufacturing sequences are divided into steps, and costs per unit power are individually calculated for all different steps. Baseline costs for each step are calculated and a sensitivity analysis run for a theoretical 1 GW/year manufacturing plant, combining data from literature and industry. The results show an increase in the overall cell processing costs between 15.8% and 25.1% due to the combination of black-Si etching and passivation by double-sided atomic layer deposition. Despite this increase, the cost per unit power of the overall PERC cell drops by 10.8%. This is a significant cost saving and thus energy policies are reviewed to overcome challenges to accelerating deployment of black mc-Si PERC across the PV industry.

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“…Many strategies have been explored to design a near-perfect black coating having emissivity and absorption equal to 1. , A perfect black coating absorbs all the incident light independent of angle and wavelength . Ultrablack coatings find applications in diverse areas such as solar collectors, infrared cameras, spectroscopic equipment, space telescopes, satellites, biomedical devices, photo actuators, and stray light suppression. − Various techniques such as nanotexturing, lithography, electrodeposition, and metamaterial are used to fabricate optical absorbers. − Most of these techniques are complex and are able to manufacture absorbers with efficient absorption in a narrow wavelength range. Recently, an optical gradation scheme has been employed to absorb incident light in the broader wavelength range of 300–2000 nm. − However, reflections originating from the interfaces between layers are a major shortcoming of the optically graded coatings …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure Dependent Broadband Optical Absorption in Carbon Nanotubes

Ghai

Singh

Agnihotri

2022

ACS Appl. Opt. Mater.

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Near-perfect black surfaces are desirable in many applications, including from space telescopes and satellites to energy harvesting and biomedical devices. Carbon nanostructures have emerged as potential candidates for fabricating ultrablack optical absorbers. Here, we have studied the structure-dependent light absorption capacity of carbon nanotubes in the broadband region of UV−vis−NIR. Four types of carbon nanotube (CNT) structures, noodle CNTs, spring CNTs, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs), and flower carbon nanotubes (FCNTs), are fabricated using the thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The light-trapping capacity of noodle CNT, spring CNT, VACNT, and FCNT is ≥94%, ≥95%, 98%, and ≥99.97%, respectively, in the UV−vis−NIR wavelength range. Varying the absorption of incident radiation in CNTs has been attributed to various structure-dependent parameters such as multiple scattering, light trapping sites, multiple length scales, and optical path length. It is shown that hierarchical structure imparts near perfect blackbody characteristics (absorption, >99.98%; emissivity, −0.98) to FCNTs. In addition, the superhydrophobic and self-cleaning behavior of VACNTs and FCNTs makes them suitable candidates for solar and antibacterial applications.

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Texturing optimization for bifacial n-PERT: are pyramids and/or black silicon the way to go for thinner devices?

Cited by 4 publications

References 12 publications

Impact of black silicon on light‐ and elevated temperature‐induced degradation in industrial passivated emitter and rear cells

Impact of black silicon on light‐ and elevated temperature‐induced degradation in industrial passivated emitter and rear cells

Economic Advantages of Dry-Etched Black Silicon in Passivated Emitter Rear Cell (PERC) Photovoltaic Manufacturing

Structure Dependent Broadband Optical Absorption in Carbon Nanotubes

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