Simple power-loss analysis method for high-efficiency Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) silicon solar cells

Verlinden, Pierre J.; Aleman, Monica; Posthuma, Niels; Fernandez, Jara; Pawlak, Bartek; Robbelein, Jo; Debucquoy, Maarten; Wichelen, K. Van; Poortmans, Jef

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2012.06.008

Cited by 39 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Equation (2) for the normalized series-resistance base component is taken from [55] and reformulated according to our specific device architecture. For substrate, we assume an n-type wafer of thickness t, resistivity ρ w , and with a donor-dopant density equal to N D .…”

Section: Appendixmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back-Contacted Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells With Efficiency >21%

Tomasi

Paviet‐Salomon

Lachenal³

et al. 2014

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-We report on the fabrication of back-contacted silicon heterojunction solar cells with conversion efficiencies above 21%. Our process technology relies solely on simple and size-scalable patterning methods, with no high-temperature steps. Using in situ shadow masks, doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers are patterned into two interdigitated combs. Transparent conductive oxide and metal layers, forming the back electrodes, are patterned by hot melt inkjet printing. With this process, we obtain high shortcircuit current densities close to 40 mA/cm 2 and open-circuit voltages exceeding 720 mV, leading to a conversion efficiency of 21.5%. However, moderate fill factor values limit our current device efficiencies. Unhindered carrier transport through both heterocontact layer stacks, as well as higher passivation quality over the minority carrier-injection range relevant for solar cell operation, are identified as key factors for improved fill factor values and device performance.

show abstract

Section: Appendixmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back-Contacted Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells With Efficiency >21%

Tomasi

Paviet‐Salomon

Lachenal³

et al. 2014

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Then, the resist is removed and the remaining SiO x /SiN x mask is etched in buffered HF. The design for the fingers pitch is taken from [24], and no gap between emitter and BSF a-Si:H fingers is present.…”

Section: Device Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterojunction Interdigitated Back-Contact Solar Cells Fabricated on Wafer Bonded to Glass

Granata¹,

Aleman²,

Bearda³

et al. 2014

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Future wafer-based silicon solar cells will be fabricated on thin (<140 μm) wafers. However, technologies to handle thin wafers during cell processing are not yet available for industry. In this paper, a flow to handle thin wafers during rear side cell processing is developed and demonstrated on 4-in 200 μm-thick wafers. The flow involves bonding the wafers to glass after frontside processing followed by a low-temperature p-n heterojunction formation on the rear side. 2.5 × 2.5 cm 2 amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction interdigitated back-contact solar cells are fabricated by use of lithography while bonded to glass, and they show an efficiency of up to 17.7%. Shunts, infrared light absorption, and rear side interface passivation are identified as the main efficiency losses. Dedicated experiments suggest that the passivation losses are related to the degradation of the adhesive during wafer cleaning. Hence, methods to improve the compatibility of the adhesive with the cleaning process are discussed. Index Terms-Heterojunction silicon solar cells, interdigitatedback-contact (i-BC), superstrate processing.

show abstract

“…Figure 5(a) shows the variation of recombination in emitter (left) and BSF (right) with respect to the contact ratio. The contacts on emitter and BSF accounts for around 6% [16,17] of recombination losses in solar cells. These recombination losses reduce short circuit current and cell efficiency.…”

Section: Simulation Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The emitter of IBC solar cells is chosen not only wider than BSF to increase short circuit current [14] but also it is optimized with respect to BSF to reduce the effect of electrical shading or EQE losses [15]. The contact opening of emitter and BSF is another important parameter in the designing of IBC solar cells because it is responsible for power [16] and series resistance loss [17]. According to Meier and Schroder [18], the selection of contact size depends on the current transfer length.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation Results: Optimization of Contact Ratio for Interdigitated Back-Contact Solar Cells

Budhraja

Devayajanam

Basnyat

2017

International Journal of Photoenergy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the fabrication of interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells, it is very important to choose the right size of contact to achieve the maximum efficiency. Line contacts and point contacts are the two possibilities, which are being chosen for IBC structure. It is expected that the point contacts would give better results because of the reduced recombination rate. In this work, we are simulating the effect of contact size on the performance of IBC solar cells. Simulations were done in three dimension using Quokka, which numerically solves the charge carrier transport. Our simulation results show that around 10% of contact ratio is able to achieve optimum cell efficiency.

show abstract

Simple power-loss analysis method for high-efficiency Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) silicon solar cells

Cited by 39 publications

References 4 publications

Back-Contacted Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells With Efficiency >21%

Back-Contacted Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells With Efficiency >21%

Heterojunction Interdigitated Back-Contact Solar Cells Fabricated on Wafer Bonded to Glass

Simulation Results: Optimization of Contact Ratio for Interdigitated Back-Contact Solar Cells

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About