Growth of multicrystalline silicon in a cone-shaped crucible

Schmid, E.; Poklad, A.; Heinze, V.; Meier, D.; Pätzold, O.; Stelter, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2015.01.007

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Several approaches are based on the adjustment of the shape of the crucibles. Schmid et al [62] developed a cone-shaped crucible which favors axial heat flux towards the cone tip and therefore yields a significant temperature gradient in this area. The optimization of different feedstock materials, as well as the seeding materials and sizes, has been also performed, aiming to enhance the quality and the microstate of the ingots [63][64][65][66].…”

Section: Czochralski Vs Directional Solidificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon Solar Cells: Trends, Manufacturing Challenges, and AI Perspectives

Di Sabatino,

Hendawi,

Garcia

2024

Crystals

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Photovoltaic (PV) installations have experienced significant growth in the past 20 years. During this period, the solar industry has witnessed technological advances, cost reductions, and increased awareness of renewable energy’s benefits. As more than 90% of the commercial solar cells in the market are made from silicon, in this work we will focus on silicon-based solar cells. As PV research is a very dynamic field, we believe that there is a need to present an overview of the status of silicon solar cell manufacturing (from feedstock production to ingot processing to solar cell fabrication), including recycling and the use of artificial intelligence. Therefore, this work introduces the silicon solar cell value chain with cost and sustainability aspects. It provides an overview of the main manufacturing techniques for silicon ingots, specifically Czochralski and directional solidification, with a focus on highlighting their key characteristics. We discuss the major challenges in silicon ingot production for solar applications, particularly optimizing production yield, reducing costs, and improving efficiency to meet the continued high demand for solar cells. We review solar cell technology developments in recent years and the new trends. We briefly discuss the recycling aspects, and finally, we present how digitalization and artificial intelligence can aid in solving some of the current PV industry challenges.

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Section: Czochralski Vs Directional Solidificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silicon Solar Cells: Trends, Manufacturing Challenges, and AI Perspectives

Di Sabatino,

Hendawi,

Garcia

2024

Crystals

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“…They observed that external gettering to the emitter was the more likely origin. In addition, the effect of GB character on electrical properties remains controversial, partially because it is difficult to control the complex structures of mc‐Si and their microstructures unless innovative crystal growth technologies are used .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of grain boundary character of multicrystalline Si on external and internal (phosphorus) gettering of impurities

Joonwichien

Takahashi

Kutsukake

et al. 2016

Progress in Photovoltaics

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We investigated the effect of the grain boundary (GB) character of multicrystalline Si (mc-Si) on the efficiency of external and internal gettering of impurities during phosphorus diffusion gettering (PDG). We utilized seed crystals with an artificially designed GB configuration to grow mc-Si ingots with different artificial GB characters. PDG combined with an originally developed multiple-cycle gettering technique at low temperature was introduced on intentionally Fe-contaminated mc-Si samples to enhance external and internal gettering. A significant positive PDG effect was observed after PDG combined with the multiple-cycle technique, as evidenced by the increase in lifetimes after PDG. A bright cloud-like photoluminescence signal around contaminated GBs was observed for artificial Σ5-GBs and tilt-GBs after PDG, suggesting the enhancement of the internal gettering efficiency by leaving a cleaner area around the GBs. This result suggests the importance of the control of crystal defect character as well as impurities in mc-Si ingots, which could strongly affect the PDG efficiency.

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