Low Cost Local Contact Opening by Using Polystyrene Spheres Spin-Coating Method for PERC Solar Cells

Abstract

The passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) concept is one of the most promising technologies for increasing crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency. Instead of using the traditional laser ablation process, this paper demonstrates spin-coated polystyrene spheres (PS) to create local openings on the rear side of PERCs. Effects of PS concentration and post-annealing temperature on PERC performance are investigated. The experimental results show that the PS are randomly distributed on wafers and no PS are joined together at a spin rate of 2000 rpm. The PS can be removed at a temperature of 350 °C, leaving holes on the passivation layers without damaging the wafer surfaces. As compared to the laser opening technique with the same contact fraction, the PS opening technique can yield a higher minority effective lifetime, a higher implied open-circuit voltage, and a slightly higher short-circuit current. Although the fill factor of the PS opening technique is lower owing to non-optimized distribution of the openings, the conversion efficiency of the devices is comparable to that of devices prepared via the laser opening process.

Preparation and properties of polystyrene incorporated with gold and silver nanoparticles for optoelectronic applications

“…Organic polymer-based materials are very important in the field of optoelectronics due to their attractive properties (Hsu et al 2016). These materials are rapidly replacing their inorganic counterparts due to their flexibility in manufacturing combined with the ease in fabrication and manufacturing.…”

Observation of photovoltaic effect within locally doped silicon nanojunctions using conductive probe AFM

“…The array of regularly distributed contacts is formed using nanoscale holes in an oxide diffusion mask, created through a multi-step process employing self-organized polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles (NPs). The use of spun-on, randomly distributed PS spheres as a mask to make point contacts has been previously demonstrated for PERC cells, but with sphere sizes comparable to those of laser openings (40 μm) [9]. In this work, after oxide removal, the presence of localized doping at the nanometer scale is examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and conductive probe atomic force microscopy (C-AFM).…”

Nanostructured back reflectors for improved light absorption in silicon thin film solar cells

“…Different applications like field emitters [157], photonic cystals [158], enhanced photocatalytic activity [159], antireflection coating [160], selfcleaned highly hydrophobic surfaces [161], solar cell back point contact formation [162], mold for nanoimprint lithoraphy [163], etc. are enabled by PSAL.…”