Damp-Heat-Stable, High-Efficiency, Industrial-Size Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Liu, Wenzhu; Zhang, Liping; Yang, Xinbo; Shi, Jing; Yan, Lingling; Xu, Lujia; Wu, Zhuopeng; Chen, Renfang; Peng, Jun; Kang, Jingxuan; Wang, Kai; Meng, Fanying; Wolf, Stefaan De; Liu, Zhengxin

doi:10.1016/j.joule.2020.03.003

Cited by 68 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Hitherto, it is always a challenge to well passivate the device surface and effectively collect carriers simultaneously in rear‐emitter heterojunction c‐Si solar cells. [ 10,15,16 ] Improving the surface passivation without hindering carrier extraction from ITO is essential for further enhancement of the performance of heterojunction c‐Si solar cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarizable High‐Index Nanoparticles Used for Light‐Induced Crystal‐Silicon Passivation and Dielectric Antenna for High‐Efficiency Solar Cell

et al. 2021

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Heterojunction crystal‐silicon (c‐Si) solar cells generate current from harvesting light via sweeping excited carriers away under built‐in asymmetry through amorphous silicon layers. However, loss of energy beyond the bandgap is known to hinder their efficiency. Herein, a strategy is provided to convert short‐wavelength energy into a polarization electrical field and the light dielectric antenna effect, where enhanced surface passivation and carrier collection occur simultaneously. By depositing an ultrathin polarizable nanoparticle layer on a transparent conducting oxide (TCO), a light‐induced electrical field is built up by light‐harvesting accumulation, which benefits for c‐Si surface passivation. An enchanting open‐circuit voltage (Voc) of 736.6 mV for the light‐induced field‐effect solar cell is achieved. In addition, the high‐index dielectric nanoparticles generate more photons to be absorbed in the long‐wavelength in c‐Si solar cells, which results in enhanced short‐circuit current (Jsc). As a result, benefiting from the light‐induced building‐up extra field and dielectric antenna effect, the device yields a power conversion efficiency of 22.41%, with the maximal improvement of Voc (≈4 mV), Jsc (≈0.4 mA cm−2), and fill factor (≈1%), respectively. This work provides a strategy to enhance solar cell efficiency by continuously harvesting beyond‐bandgap light to offer an additional asymmetrical field and the light antenna effect.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polarizable High‐Index Nanoparticles Used for Light‐Induced Crystal‐Silicon Passivation and Dielectric Antenna for High‐Efficiency Solar Cell

et al. 2021

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“…[ 3–7 ] Even though technologically SHJ solar cells are nowadays a relatively mature photovoltaic (PV) technology, the microscopic picture of the passivated a‐Si:H/c‐Si interface, critical in obtaining high operating voltages, is not yet complete. [ 8,9 ] Indeed, several fundamental questions about the a‐Si:H microstructure required to obtain a good passivation layer are still unresolved. Answering these might also give important hints to improve further other passivating‐contact technology beyond SHJ technology, such as those employing high‐temperature tolerant materials.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amorphous/Crystalline Silicon Interface Stability: Correlation between Infrared Spectroscopy and Electronic Passivation Properties

Holovský

Nicolás

Wolf

et al. 2020

Adv Materials Inter

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Even though technologically SHJ solar cells are nowadays a relatively mature photovoltaic (PV) technology, the microscopic picture of the passivated a-Si:H/c-Si interface, critical in obtaining high operating voltages, is not yet complete. [8,9] Indeed, several fundamental questions about the a-Si:H microstructure required to obtain a good passivation layer are still unresolved. Answering these might also give important hints to improve further other passivating-contact technology beyond SHJ technology, such as those employing high-temperature tol erant materials. [10-12] Quite generally, the hydrogen vibrational spectrum of intrinsic a-Si:H features two Gaussian peaks attributed to monohydrides and higher hydrides, the former one indicating dense material and the latter one indicating the presence of voids, with hydrogen-terminated internal surfaces. [13] In the case of thinfilm a-Si:H p-in solar cells, where intrinsic a-Si:H is used as PV absorber (often in the order of a 100 nm thick), it is well established that a high material density and low concentration of internal voids is necessary to obtain the best materials. [14] In the case of SHJ solar cells, the employed intrinsic a-Si:H films are only a few nano meter thin, and used as passivation layers. Here, to answer what is the precise signature of high-quality a-Si:H is more complex. On the one hand, improvements in a-Si:H/c-Si interface passivation were indeed found to be linked to a reduction in bulk defects in the a-Si:H film. [15,16] However, in terms of vibrational spectral signature, the situation is not that straightforward. Usually, prior deposition, c-Si wafers are extensively cleaned and provided with a hydrogen termination through wet-chemical processing. Such hydrogen termination can yield excellent surface passivation, [17] with very well-defined silicon-hydrogen spectra. [18] Next, in the first moments of film deposition, typically a very low hydrogen dilution is used to prevent epitaxial growth (which would impair the passivation function of the deposited film). [19-23] The resulting film is a void-rich "underdense" layer, which is then capped by a denser layer of intrinsic or doped a-Si:H (p-type for hole-collecting contacts; n-type for electron collecting contacts). It is well known that postdeposition annealing of this stack usually improves the passivation during which the hydrogen diffuses through the void-like layer toward a-Si:H/c-Si interface. [22,24-27] Introducing excess hydrogen through hydrogen plasma treatment steps during deposition [27] or after deposition [28] was proven to yield Ultrathin layers of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), passivating the surface of crystalline silicon (c-Si), are key enablers for high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells. In this work, the authors apply highly sensitive attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, combined with carrier-lifetime measurements and carrier-lifetime imaging, to resolve several fundamental and technology-related questions related t...

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“…Similarly, the growth of TCO films is influenced by the nature of the doped silicon layer it grows on, with lower-conductivity films typically obtained on nc-Si:H films than on a-Si:H films for identical growth conditions as exemplified in Figure 1c [20], [40]. Then, although the addition of an SiOx (or SiNx) capping layer has been demonstrated as beneficial for multiple TCOs (ITO [33], tungsten-doped indium oxide [13], aluminum-doped zinc oxide [41]), this is still unexplored for IZrO, even less so for an IZrO layer grown on a nc-SiOx:H film. Lastly, little literature is available on the influence of the device architecture on the effect of a forward bias treatment.…”

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confidence: 98%

“…In all cases, it is possible to tune specific properties of the involved material to relax the trade-off. This can be the microstructure factor for the (i)a-Si:H layer [11]- [13], the electron mobility for the TCO [14]- [16], or the composition of the thin-film-silicon doped layer [17]- [19].…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Another approach to minimize resistive and optical losses in the front TCO layer is to coat it with a SiOx:H film: such additional coating was shown to both improve the transmittance of light to the silicon wafer and reduce the sheet resistance of the TCO [33], [34]. A similar approach can be economically relevant for highvolume manufacturing [35], and increase the reliability of SHJ solar cells when combined to a tungsten-doped indium-oxide film [13]. The last building block used in the reported results is the application of a forward electrical bias to the finished solar cell.…”

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Hole-Selective Front Contact Stack Enabling 24.1%-Efficient Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Boccard

Antognini

Paratte

et al. 2021

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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The window-layer stack limits the efficiency of both-side-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells. We discuss here the combination of several modifications to this stack to improve its optoelectronic performance. These include the introduction of a nanocrystalline silicon-oxide p-type layer in lieu of the amorphous silicon p-type layer, replacing indium tin oxide with a zirconium-doped indium oxide for the front transparent electrode, capping this layer with a silicon-oxide film, and applying a post-fabrication electrical biasing treatment. The influence of each of these alterations is discussed, as well as their interactions. Combining all of them finally enables the fabrication of a highly transparent and electrically well-performing windowlayer stack, leading to a screen-printed silicon heterojunction solar cell with 24.1% efficiency. Paths towards industrialization and for further improvements are finally discussed.

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Damp-Heat-Stable, High-Efficiency, Industrial-Size Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

Cited by 68 publications

References 59 publications

Polarizable High‐Index Nanoparticles Used for Light‐Induced Crystal‐Silicon Passivation and Dielectric Antenna for High‐Efficiency Solar Cell

Polarizable High‐Index Nanoparticles Used for Light‐Induced Crystal‐Silicon Passivation and Dielectric Antenna for High‐Efficiency Solar Cell

Amorphous/Crystalline Silicon Interface Stability: Correlation between Infrared Spectroscopy and Electronic Passivation Properties

Hole-Selective Front Contact Stack Enabling 24.1%-Efficient Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells

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