Silicon solar cells and modules with front contact paste containing copper‐based component

Gawlińska-Nęcek, Katarzyna; Socha, Robert P.; Balawender, P.; Stodolny, M.K.; Aken, B.B. van; Starowicz, Z.; Pánek, P.

doi:10.1002/pip.3424

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…It is well-known that DH stress applied to conventional PV modules with EVA encapsulant produces acetic acid. Acetic acid has been noted to corrode cell metallization in other experiments (see, e.g., refs and ); in Cu-plated, Ag-capped samples, it might also provide a sink reaction to drive Cu outdiffusion via grain boundaries. Solutions to prevent this outdiffusion may be to substitute or engineer encapsulant materials to produce less acetic acid or to manipulate the grain boundaries of the Ag layer to provide fewer diffusion pathways.…”

Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Copper Outdiffusion from Copper-Plated Solar Cell Contacts during Damp Heat Exposure

Karas

Phua

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Plated copper (Cu) contacts for silicon (Si) solar cells are an attractive alternative material to conventional screenprinted silver, but there are unresolved questions on the long-term integrity of plated contact structures. In this work, we perform characterization on plated Cu contacts from encapsulated cells that were degraded during extended exposure to damp heat (DH) stress. First, using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, we find evidence of Cu outdiffusion upward through capping layers made of both tin and silver applied with light-induced plating, resulting in a layer of Cu on the outer contact surface. We hypothesize that if Cu is mobile in the module, it may eventually find some route by which to enter the Si cells where it can degrade performance. Subsequently, in several types of Cu-plated, DH-degraded cells, secondary ion mass spectrometry detects elevated levels of Cu at the Si surface and in the Si cell bulk, which suggests that Cu can indeed migrate from contacts into Si over the course of DH stress.

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Section: Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Copper Outdiffusion from Copper-Plated Solar Cell Contacts during Damp Heat Exposure

Karas

Phua

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…Most studies in R&D on PV modules only investigate the effects of single loads, i.e. temperature cycles [141] or moisture levels, including condensation, on the corrosion process [115,118,120,142].…”

Section: Corrosion Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerated aging tests vs field performance of PV modules

Weiß

Klimm²,

Kaaya

2022

Prog. Energy

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The market for Photovoltaic systems has experienced an enormous growth worldwide and will further grow over the coming decades. Investments in Photovoltaics became an important financial product with the special feature of very long contract durations. Typically operation of over 20 years is expected, during which generation of electricity and revenues are expected. Due to these long operational times, quality, durability, reliability, and degradation rates become crucial for the investment. PV modules are the dominating components in this regard since they prevail the investment. Accelerated ageing tests are in general used to ensure the quality of photovoltaic components. These tests are partly standardized, for PV mainly by IEC and are used for type approval or safety testing. Accelerated ageing tests are also adapted to specific needs and e g used for Quality Assurance (QA) of manufacturers or Service Life Prediction (SLP) by manufacturers or research institutes. All the efforts are taken to gain knowledge about the behaviour of PV modules in operation and thus the accelerated tests have to be related to normal operation. Since PV is used around the globe, the conditions vary significantly depending on the location of installation. In addition, the installation has severe influence on the operational conditions of PV modules. The papers attempt is to give an overview on the state of the art of accelerated testing and field performance analysis of PV modules with focus on developments over the last five to ten years. Developments are described and the status is analysed regarding the significance of tests including the latest developments and open scientific gaps related to the envisaged correlation of accelerated tests with field performance. The reader is enabled to differenciate between reliability testing and service life prediction. The understanding for a comprehensive approach of reliability testing including field evaluation data is develope

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“…Previously, Cu paste was successfully used to replace busbar of solar cells. [ 19,20 ] Cu pastes were also used as front fingers, [ 21,22 ] but either the cell efficiency reported was not as good as reference or was below the state of the art.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Stable High‐Efficiency Copper Screen Printed Back Contact Solar Cells

et al. 2022

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The high usage of silver in industrial solar cells may limit the growth of the solar industry. One solution is to replace Ag with copper. A screen printable Cu paste is used herein to metallize industrial interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells. A novel metallization structure is proposed for making solar cells. Cu paste is applied to replace the majority of the Ag used in IBC cells as busbars and fingers. Cu paste is evaluated for use as fingers, and solar cells are made to test conversion efficiency and reliability. The Cu paste achieves comparably low resistivity, and Cu paste printed cells demonstrate similar efficiency to Ag paste printed cells, with an average efficiency of 23%, and only 4.5 mg W−1 of Ag usage. Also, the solar cells are stable and no Cu in‐diffusion is observed under damp heat (85 °C, 85% relative humidity) and thermal stress (200 °C) for 1000 h, respectively. All processes used in this study can be carried out with industrial equipment. These findings reveal a new application for Cu pastes and point to a new direction for reducing Ag utilization and cost.

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Silicon solar cells and modules with front contact paste containing copper‐based component

Cited by 9 publications

References 21 publications

Copper Outdiffusion from Copper-Plated Solar Cell Contacts during Damp Heat Exposure

Copper Outdiffusion from Copper-Plated Solar Cell Contacts during Damp Heat Exposure

Accelerated aging tests vs field performance of PV modules

Thermal Stable High‐Efficiency Copper Screen Printed Back Contact Solar Cells

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