Characterization of porous silicon photovoltaic devices through rapid thermal oxidation, rapid thermal annealing and HF-dipping processes

The characteristics of a porous silicon Schottky barrier are improved through rapid thermal oxidation and rapid thermal annealing processes. However, the photovoltaic photocurrent at zero bias is degraded seriously by the thin oxide formed under the metal contact after the rapid thermal oxidation and the rapid thermal annealing processes. An HF-dipping process is used to remove the oxide of the metal contact area and to improve the short-circuit current and the open-circuit voltage. Under the optimum preparation conditions, a short-circuit current of about 4 mA and an open-circuit voltage of about 0.52 V are obtained under a tungsten lamp illumination of 22.4 mW/cm². The main problem is the series resistance of the high-resistivity substrate, the photovoltaic characteristics can be further improved if a low-resistivity substrate is used.     

Wet-chemical passivation and characterization of silicon interfaces for solar cell applications

The interface properties of silicon solar cell structures were characterized by the two non-destructive and highly surface-sensitive spectroscopic techniques: surface photovoltage and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The resulting charge and density of interface states as well as the microscopic surface roughness and oxide coverage were investigated during silicon wafer preparation and during sample storage in air. The surface state density of hydrogen-terminated silicon surfaces as well as the long-time stability of the hydrogen termination were found to primarily depend on the surface morphology resulting from the wet-chemical oxidation procedures applied before. The smallest interface state densities were obtained by NH₄F treatment subsequent to oxidation in ultra-pure water at 80°C. Surfaces prepared using this procedure are found to be much more stable upon exposition to clean-room air than those prepared by conventionally prepared H-terminated surfaces.The successful application of the new passivation procedures in photovoltaics is shown for selected examples of different solar cell concepts.     

A hybrid amorphous silicon photovoltaic and thermal solar collector

A hybrid amorphous silicon (a-Si) photovoltaic and thermal solar collector was developed and its performance tested. The solar cells, deposited on glass panels and having an average efficiency of 4% and a total area of 0.9 m², were bonded to the fin and tube aluminum heat-exchange plate using simple technology. This hybrid unit performed well as a thermal solar collector, heating water up to 65°C, while the electric characteristics of the photovoltaic modules showed little change. In addition to saving space this integral unit substantially reduces the balance-of-system cost of the photovoltaic generator. The transmission of light through various layers of an a-Si cell was measured and, in order to improve the thermal efficiency, a novel transparent type of a-Si cell was developed and tested in the hybrid unit. The results obtained show that it is possible to construct simple and cheap hybrid systems having good photovoltaic as well as thermal efficiencies.     

A model of silicon solar cells for concentrator photovoltaic and photovoltaic/thermal system design

The design of photovoltaic (PV) and photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar energy conversion systems employing optical concentration requires simple models of solar cells which nevertheless have sufficient accuracy to be employed in design decisions. Semi-empirical expressions are presented for open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, fill factor, and conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells as explicit functions of optical concentration (C) and temperature (T). In addition similar expressions are given for the solar cell current as a function of C and T and of the operating voltage V, to enable characterization under conditions of nonoptimal power transfer. The agreement of the model with experimental data is shown to be within ? 10% for all parameters. An example of an application of the model to system design is also presented.     

Optimized rapid thermal process for high efficiency silicon solar cells

Rapid thermal processing is opening new possibilities for a low-cost and environmentally safe silicon solar cell production, keeping the process time at high temperature in the order of 1 min, due to enhanced diffusion and oxidation mechanisms. Controlling the surface concentration of the junction is one of the major parameters, in order to obtain suitable front surface recombination velocities. Simultaneous diffusion of phosphorus and aluminum is used to realize emitter and back surface field in a single high-temperature step, with optimized gettering effect. Controlling the mentioned parameters on industrial 1 Ω cm Cz material lead in 17.5% efficient solar cells on a surface of 25 cm². All results are discussed in terms of process temperature, dopant source concentration and effective process time, below 1 min including high heating and cooling rates.     

Germanium-doped Czochralski silicon for photovoltaic applications

Germanium (Ge)-doped Czochralski (GCZ) silicon has been grown for photovoltaic (PV) applications. It is found that Ge doping improves the mechanical strength of CZ silicon, resulting in the reduction of breakage during wafer cutting, cell fabrication and module assembly. Boron-oxygen (B-O) defects that lead to the light-induced degradation (LID) of carrier lifetime are effectively suppressed by Ge doping. The decrease in the maximum concentration of B-O defects increases with an increase of Ge concentration. The efficiency of GCZ silicon solar cells and the power output of corresponding PV modules both exhibit smaller loss under sunlight illumination. The current work suggests that GCZ silicon should be potentially a novel substrate for thin solar cells with low LID effect.     

Low temperature surface passivation for silicon solar cells

Surface passivation at low processing temperatures becomes an important topic for cheap solar cell processing. In this study, we first give a broad overview of the state of the art in this field. Subsequently, the results of a series of mutually related experiments are given about surface passivation with direct Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) of silicon oxide (Si-oxide) and silicon nitride (Si-nitride). Results of harmonically modulated microwave reflection experiments are combined with Capacitance-Voltage measurements on Metal-Insulator-Silicon structures (CV-MIS), accelerated degradation tests and with Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) and Elastic Recoil Detection (ERD) measurements of hydrogen and deuterium concentrations in the passivating layers. A large positive fixed charge density at the interface is very important for the achieved low surface recombination velocities S. The density of interface states D_it is strongly reduced by post deposition anneals. The lowest values of S are obtained with PECVD of Si-nitride. The surface passivation obtained with Si-nitride is stable under typical operating conditions for solar cells. By using deuterium as a tracer it is shown that hydrogen in the ambient of the post deposition anneal does not play a role in the passivation by Si-nitride. Finally, the results of CV-MIS measurements (Capacitance-Voltage measurements on Metal-Insulator-Silicon structures) on deposited Si-nitride layers are used to calculate effective recombination velocities as a function of the injection level at the surface, using a model that is able to predict the surface recombination velocity S at thermally oxidized silicon surfaces. These results are not in agreement with the measured increase of S at low injection levels.     

Low temperature silicon oxide and nitride for surface passivation of silicon solar cells

Surface passivation at low processing temperature becomes an important topic for crystalline and multicrystalline silicon solar cells. In this work, silicon oxide (250°C) and silicon nitride (300°C) have been developed by Photo-CVD and PECVD technique respectively. Effects of deposition parameters on the optoelectronic and structural properties of the films have been investigated. Interface-trap density (D_it) and fixed charge density (Qf) have been estimated by high frequency (1 MHz) capacitance-voltage measurement on Metal–Insulator–Silicon structure (CV-MIS). The effect of silicon oxide and silicon nitride on the performance of c-Si solar cells have been studied.     

非晶硅太阳能光伏/光热空气集热器性能对比实验研究

文章设计了新型非晶硅太阳能PV/T空气集热器,该空气集热器能够解决传统太阳能PV/T热水器在高温波动情况下,晶硅电池热应力大的问题,同时避免了冬季管道发生霜冻的现象。文章通过实验对比,分析了非晶硅太阳能PV/T空气集热器、单独非晶硅光伏电池和传统太阳能空气集热器的能量效率和[火用]效率的差异。分析结果表明:非晶硅太阳能PV/T空气集热器的平均热效率为45.70%,比传统太阳能空气集热器的平均热效率降低了约25.88%;当空气质量流量增大至0.048 kg/s时,非晶硅太阳能PV/T空气集热器中的非晶硅光伏电池的平均电效率高于单独非晶硅光伏电池,它们的平均电效率分别为4.70%,4.54%;非晶硅太阳能PV/T空气集热器的总[火用]效率高于传统太阳能空气集热器的热[火用]效率和单独非晶硅光伏电池的电[火用]效率,非晶硅太阳能PV/T空气集热器总[火用]效率最大值为7.14%。文章的分析结果为非晶硅太阳能PV/T空气集热器的推广提供了参考。     

Preparation of solar grade silicon from optical fibers wastes with thermal plasmas

In this paper, we investigated a new way to recycle silica optical fiber wastes for feedstock supply of solar grade silicon (SOG-Si) on the basis of harmless treatment of hazardous wastes, which will provide an alternative route for silicon production processes compared to the conventional silicon supply for photovoltaic industry. Silicon was prepared in hydrogen–argon thermal plasma systems designed by authors and analyzed via X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, laser Raman spectroscopy and chemical analysis. Only the elements of silicon and oxygen in the production were detected, which suggests that this method is a promising way to prepare high-purity silicon at low cost for feedstock supply of SOG-Si although the content of metallic silicon was above 17 wt% at present.     

Investigation of various surface passivation schemes for silicon solar cells

In this work, we have investigated three different surface passivation technologies: classical thermal oxidation (CTO), rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) and silicon nitride by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Eight different passivation properties including SiO₂/SiN_x stacks on phosphorus diffused (100 and 40 Ω/Sq) and non-diffused 1 Ω cm FZ silicon were compared. Both types of SiO₂ layers, CTO and RTO, yield a higher effective lifetime on the emitter surface than on the non-diffused surface. For the SiN_x layers the situation is reverted. On the other hand, with SiO₂/SiN_x stacks high lifetimes are obtained not only non-diffused surface but also on the diffused surface. Thus, we have chosen the RTO/SiN_x stack layers as front and rear surface passivation in solar cells, which passivate relatively good on the surface and has very low-weighted reflection. On planar cells passivated with RTO/SiN_x a very high V_oc of 675.6 mV and a J_sc of 35.1 mA/cm² was achieved. Compared to a planar cell using CTO the efficiency of RTO/SiN_x cell is 0.8% higher (4.5% relative). It can be concluded that the RTO/SiN_x layers are the optimal passivation for the front and rear surface. On the other hand, for textured cells, the J_sc and FF of RTO/SiN_x cells are lower than those of CTO cells. The main reasons of these J_sc and FF losses were also discussed systematically.     

UVCVD silicon nitride passivation and ARC layers for multicrystalline solar cells

This work intends to investigate the effectiveness of silicon nitride layers (SiN_x : H) deposited by photochemical vapor deposition (UVCVD) for antireflection and passivation purposes when applied to electromagnetically casted silicon solar cells (EMC). Effective reflectivity of 10.8% is achieved, as well as 66% increase of minority carrier lifetime.     

Polycrystalline silicon thin films and solar cells prepared by rapid thermal CVD

Polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films ( 10 μm) were grown from dichlorosilane by a rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) technique, with a growth rate up to 100 Å/s at the substrate temperature (T_s) of 1030°C. The average grain size and carrier mobility of the films were found to be dependent on the substrate temperature and material. By using the poly-Si films, the first model pn⁺ junction solar cell without anti-reflecting (AR) coating has been prepared on an unpolished heavily phosphorus-doped Si wafer, with an energy conversion efficiency of 4.54% (AM 1.5, 100 mW/cm², 1 cm²).     

Amorphous silicon alloy photovoltaic technology and applications

The last year has seen enormous advances in the science and technology of amorphous silicon alloy photovoltaic. A new world record in cell efficiency has been achieved; a large volume manufacturing plant is also operational. Innovative building-integrated products have been developed which are aesthetically pleasing and easy to install on the roof. In this paper, we give a brief summary of these developments.     

Hydrogen passivation of defects in multicrystalline silicon solar cells

The knowledge of how hydrogen interacts with defects and impurities in silicon is crucial for the understanding of device performance, especially for solar cells made from disordered silicon wafers. Hydrogen can be introduced in silicon by several techniques, but this paper will be focused on hydrogenation by means of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of hydrogen-rich silicon nitride layer on the surface of the wafer. Passivation effects are observed after annealing and evaluated using minority carrier diffusion length measurements and light-beam-induced current scan maps.It was found that individual intragrain defects are well passivated, while deep levels are transformed into poorly recombining shallow levels at grain boundaries and dislocation clusters. In solar cells, the stability of the hydrogen passivation is much higher with this technique than with other hydrogenation techniques. This is probably due to an encapsulation of hydrogen by the frontwall silicon nitride coating layers and by the backside aluminum film.     

Field effect passivation of high efficiency silicon solar cells

In this paper effective surface recombination velocities S_eff at the rear Si---SiO₂ interface of the presently best one -sun silicon solar cell structure are calculated on the basis of measured oxide parameters. A new cell design is proposed allowing for a control of the surface space charge region by a gate voltage. It is shown that the electric field introduced by the positive fixed oxide charge density typically found at thermally oxidized silicon surfaces and the favorable work function difference between the gate metal aluminum and silicon leads to a reduction of S_eff to values well below 1 cm/s at AM1.5 illumination for n-type as well as p-type silicon. At low illumination levels, however, oxidized n-type silicon has much better surface passivation properties than p-type silicon due to the small hole capture cross section (σ_n/gs_p ≈ 1000 at midgap). Only at small illumination intensities for p-type substrates or in the case of poor Si---SiO₂ interface quality the incorporation of a gate electrode on the rear surface is a promising tool for further reducing surface recombination losses.     

Hydrogen passivation of defects in polycrystalline silicon solar cells

The investigations of hydrogen passivation of defects in polycrystalline silicon produced by the Czochralski method have been carried on. The results presented give evidence that it is advisable to use this material to create cheap effective solar cells.     

Nanocrystalline silicon film grown by LEPECVD for photovoltaic applications

This work deals with the characterization of nanocrystalline (nc) silicon films, grown using the plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) process based on a low-voltage–high-current arc discharge plasma named LEPECVD (low-energy PECVD).The structural, electrical and chemical properties of the LEPECVD grown films have been studied as a function of the deposition parameters (substrate temperature, growth rate, silane dilution). The results show that the films consist of elongated nanocrystals along the 1 1 1direction, embedded in an amorphous matrix. The crystallite size along the 1 1 1 direction is in the range of 9-20 nm. The volume fraction of crystallinity (χ_c) varies between 51% and 78%, depending on preparation conditions. Conductivity values of the order of 10⁻⁶ Ω⁻¹ cm⁻¹ for the layers were measured, making the material suitable for the p–i–n junction application.     

Overview on SiN surface passivation of crystalline silicon solar cells

Silicon nitride (SiN) fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) is increasingly used within the crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaic industry as it offers the possibility to fabricate a surface and bulk passivating antireflection coating at low temperature (450°C). This article presents an overview on the present status of SiN for industrial as well as laboratory-type c-Si solar cells. Topics covered include the fundamentals of the PECVD technology, the present status of high-throughput PECVD machines for the deposition of SiN onto c-Si wafers, and a review of the fundamental properties of Si–SiN interfaces fabricated by PECVD.     

Study of electrical properties of oxidized porous silicon for back surface passivation of silicon solar cells

Back surface passivation becomes a key issue for the silicon solar cells made with thin wafers. The high surface recombination due to the metal contacts can be lowered by reducing the back contact area and forming local back surface field (LBSF) in conjunction with the passivation with dielectric layer. About 3×10^-7 m thick porous silicon (PS) layer with pore diameter mostly of 1×10^-8–5×10^-8 m was formed by chemical etching of silicon using the acidic solution containing hydrofluoric acid (HF), nitric acid (HNO₃) and De-ionized water in the volume ratio 1:3:5 at 298 K for which etching time was kept constant for 360 s. Electrical properties of oxidized PS was studied through the current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristics of the metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) device in which the oxidized PS was used as an insulating layer and the results were further analyzed. The C–V curves of all the studies MIS devices showed the negative flatband voltage varying from -2 to , confirming that the oxidized layer of PS has fixed positive charge.