Thick-film metallization for solar cell applications

Cheek, G.; Mertens, R.; Overstraeten, R. Van; Frisson, Louis

doi:10.1109/t-ed.1984.21575

Cited by 78 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Th is process provides high productivity and relatively low process cost for BSF formation. Aluminum-paste alloying has the additional advantage of inducing wafer gettering eff ects in both polycrystalline and monocrystalline silicon PV cells similar to the phosphorus diff usion technologies [36,37]. Metal impurities, such as iron or copper, can be eliminated from bulk silicon by aluminum gettering eff ects, which can improve the minority carrier diff usion length.…”

Section: Materials and Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in crystalline silicon solar cell technology for industrial mass production

Saga¹

2010

NPG Asia Mater

602

317

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In 2008, the world annual production of photovoltaic (PV) cells reached more than 7.9 GW p (W p , peak power under standard test conditions) [1], and the average annual growth rate in PV cell production over the last decade has been more than 40%. Yet the electrical power generated by all PV systems around the world has been estimated to be less than 0.1% of the total world electricity generation [1]. Nevertheless, the strong growth in PV cell production is expected to continue for many years. Crystalline silicon PV cells, with over 60 years of development, have the longest production history and now account for the largest share of production, comprising up to 90% of all the solar cells produced in 2008 [1]. Silicon is safe for the environment and one of the most abundant resources on Earth, representing 26% of crustal material. Th e abundance and safety of silicon as a resource grants the silicon solar cell a prominent position among all the various kinds of solar cells in the PV industry. World annual PV cell production of 100 GW p is expected to be achieved by around 2020, and the silicon PV cell is the most viable candidate to meet this demand from the point of view of suitability for large-volume production.Th e crystalline silicon PV cell is one of many silicon-based semiconductor devices. Th e PV cell is essentially a diode with a semiconductor structure (Figure 1), and in the early years of solar cell production, many technologies for crystalline silicon cells were proposed on the basis of silicon semiconductor devices. Th e synergy of technologies and equipment developed for other silicon-based semiconductor devices, such as large-scale integrated circuits and the many diff erent kinds of silicon semiconductor applications, with those developed for PV cells supported progress in both fi elds. Process technologies such as photolithography helped to increase energy conversion effi ciency in solar cells, and mass-production technologies such as wire-saw slicing of silicon ingots developed for the PV industry were also readily applicable to other silicon-based semiconductor devices. However, the value of a PV cell per unit area is much lower than that for other silicon-based semiconductor devices. Production technologies such as silver-paste screen printing and fi ring for contact formation are therefore needed to lower the cost and increase the volume of production for crystalline silicon solar cells. To achieve parity with existing mains grid electricity prices, known as 'grid parity', lower material and process costs are as important as higher solar cell effi ciencies. Th e realization

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Section: Materials and Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in crystalline silicon solar cell technology for industrial mass production

Saga¹

2010

NPG Asia Mater

602

317

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“…It is known that nano Ag collides in thin glass layer and Ag crystallites on Si are mainly playing a role as a bridge for current transport [11,[15][16]. In this paper, the degradation of nano Ag collides in the glass layer could not be explained clearly.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…2(b-1) and (b-2)), indicating that Ag oxides present in the edge were etched by the HF solution, which is known to be capable of removing oxides. The density of Ag crystallites is important to flow current via Ag crystallites [11]. The presence of reduced Ag crystallites indicates that the sample is severely degraded due to high contact resistance.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The degradation of multi-crystalline silicon solar cells after damp heat tests

Kim

Bae

et al. 2014

Microelectronics Reliability

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“…A model of current transport through screenprinted contacts of a forming gas anneal on solar cells has been proposed by Schubert et al [17], in which current flow can take place via three channels: direct interaction at isolated spots between the Ag crystallites and the Ag grid [18,19], tunneling through the thin glass region [20], and conduction through the glass layer by tunneling through metallic precipitates in the glass layer [16,21]. Our H 2 gas annealing method worked best at T ¼350 1C.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%