PECVD grown silicon nitride AR coatings on polycrystalline silicon solar cells

Silicon nitride films produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) have been studied as antireflection (AR) coating on polycrystalline silicon solar cells. A substantial enhancement (28%) in the short circuit current (I_sc) has been obtained. The open circuit voltage (V_oc) of these cells has also been found to improve after silicon nitride deposition. The deposition conditions to optimise the improvement in the cell performance have been discussed.     

High-density inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition of silicon nitride for solar cell application

The silicon nitride films were deposited by means of high-density inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition in a planar coil reactor. The process gases used were pure nitrogen and a mixture of silane and helium. Passivated by silicon nitride, solar cells show efficiency above 13%. Strong H-atom release from the growing SiN film and Si–N bond healing are responsible for the improved electrical and passivation properties of SiN film. This paper presents the optimal refractive index of SiN for single layer antireflection coating as well as double layer antireflection coating in solar cell applications.     

Investigations of solar cells with porous silicon as antireflection layer

The possibility of using porous silicon layers as antireflection coating instead of the antireflection coatings in common silicon solar cells was investigated. A technology for the manufacture of porous silicon antireflection layers was developed. The comparison of the photovoltaic and optical characteristics of investigated samples of solar cells with ZnS antireflection coating and with porous silicon antireflection coating is presented. It is shown that the formation of the porous layer under optimal technological regimes leads to significant improvement of the main photovoltaic parameters–short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage.     

Pilot production of concentrator silicon solar cells: Approaching industrialization

Using a simple process, high-efficiency silicon concentrator solar cells have proved to achieve up to 21% efficiency at 100×. The purpose of this work is to prove the feasibility of their industrialisation by setting up a pilot line and manufacturing a significant number of cells for a 100× concentrator system. The process has been successfully verified by modifying the antireflection coating, the annealing process and the back contact. This yielded an average efficiency of 18.5% at 100× with 70% of cells having an efficiency >18% and costs ranging from 0.31 to 0.41 €/W. A fast learning curve is shown which suggests optimistic results indeed for further industrialisation.     

Plasma-enhanced CVD silicon nitride antireflection coatings for solar cells

Multilayer plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride antireflection coatings were deposited on space quality silicon solar cells. Preliminary experiments indicated that multilayer coatings decreased the total reflectance of polished silicon from 35 per cent to less than 3 per cent over the spectral range 0.4–1.0 μm. The solar cell energy conversion efficiency was increased from an average of 8.84 per cent to an average of 12.63 per cent.     

Double porous silicon layer on multi-crystalline Si for photovoltaic application

Double porous silicon (d-PS) layers formed by acid chemical etching on a top surface of n⁺/p multi-crystalline silicon solar cells were investigated with the aim to improve the performance of standard screen-printed silicon solar cells. First a macro-porous layer is formed on mc-Si. The role of this layer is texturization of surface. Next, the cells have been manufactured using standard technology based on screen-printing metallization. Finally, a second mezo-porous layer in n⁺ emitter of cell has been produced. The role of this PS layer is to serve as an antireflection coating. In this way, we have obtained d-PS layers on these solar cells. The paper present observation of d-PS microstructure with SEM as well as measurements of its effective reflectance at the level of 2.5% in the 400–1000 nm length wave range. The efficiency of the solar cells with this structure is about 12%.     

Large-area multicrystalline silicon solar cell fabrication using reactive ion etching (RIE)

Surface texturing of crystalline silicon wafer improves the conversion efficiency of solar cells by the enhancement in antireflection property and light trapping. Compared to antireflection coating, it is a more permanent and effective scheme. Wet texturing with the chemicals such as alkali (NaOH, KOH) or acid (HF, HNO₃, CH₃COOH) is too difficult for thinner wafer to apply due to a large amount of silicon loss. However, Plasma surface texturing using Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) can be effective in reducing the surface reflectance with low silicon loss. In this study, we have fabricated a large-area (156×156 mm) multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cell by mask less surface texturing using a SF₆/O₂ reactive ion etching. We have accomplished texturing with RIE by reducing silicon loss by almost half of that in wet texturing process. By optimizing the processing steps, we achieved conversion efficiency, open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, and fill factor as high as 16.1%, 619 mV, 33.5 mA/cm², and 77.7%, respectively. This study establishes that it is possible to fabricate the thin multicrystalline silicon solar cells of low cost and high efficiency using surface texturing by RIE.     

Multicrystalline silicon solar cells with porous silicon emitter

A review of the application of porous silicon (PS) in multicrystalline silicon solar cell processes is given. The different PS formation processes, structural and optical properties of PS are discussed from the viewpoint of photovoltaics. Special attention is given to the use of PS as an antireflection coating in simplified processing schemes and for simple selective emitter processes as well as to its light trapping and surface passivating capabilities. The optimization of a PS selective emitter formation results in a 14.1% efficiency mc-Si cell processed without texturization, surface passivation or additional ARC deposition. The implementation of a PS selective emitter into an industrially compatible screenprinted solar cell process is made by both the chemical and electrochemical method of PS formation. Different kinds of multicrystalline silicon materials and solar cell processes are used. An efficiency of 13.2% is achieved on a 25 cm² mc-Si solar cell using the electrochemical technique while the efficiencies in between 12% and 13% are reached for very large (100–164 cm²) commercial mc-Si cells with a PS emitter formed by chemical method.     

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.     

TiO_2/SiO_2双层减反膜在太阳电池上的应用

利用二氧化硅(SiO_2)对太阳电池表面的钝化作用,对传统的二氧化钛(TiO_2)单层减反膜进行了改良.基于理论模拟分析了光反射率随膜层(TiO_2/SiO_2)厚度变化规律,结合实验上SiO_2最佳厚度经验值,制备了晶体硅太阳电池(即TiO_2/SiO_2/Si),并和SiN_x/Si结构的晶体硅太阳电池相比较.分别测试了少子寿命、反射率、电性能参数等,结果表明这种改良后的TiO_2减反膜也可以取得很好的减反效果和钝化效果.镀有TiO_2,SiO_2双层膜与SiN_x减反膜绒面晶体硅片的积分反射率分别为4.9%和3.9%;使用以上两种不同减反膜制备的太阳电池的开路电压均可达到0.62V.可见这种TiO_2双层膜有望在将来的生产中得到具体应用.     

氮化硅薄膜的性能研究以及在多晶硅太阳电池上的应用

利用椭圆偏振仪、准稳态光电导衰减法(QSSPCD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、红外吸收光谱(IR)、反射谱等手段，研究了不同硅烷和氨气配比条件以及沉积温度对在多晶硅太阳电池上所沉积的氮化硅薄膜性能的影响，优化了沉积条件。通过比较沉积前后电池的各项性能，确认经氮化硅钝化后电池效率提高了40％以上，电池的短路电流也提高了30％以上，对于电池的开路电压提高也很大.     

Texturing industrial multicrystalline silicon solar cells

Three potential techniques for texturing commercial multicrystalline silicon solar cells are compared on the basis of reflectance measurements. Wet acidic texturing, which would be the least costly to implement, produces a modest improvement in reflection before antireflection coating and encapsulation, whereas maskless reactive-ion etching texturing, and especially masked reactive-ion etched ‘pyramids’, generate a larger gain in absorption. After antireflection coating and encapsulation however, the differences between the methods are reduced. Short-circuit current measurements on wet acidic textured cells reveal that there is a significant additional current gain above that expected from the reduced reflection. This is attributed to both light-trapping and oblique coupling of incident light into the cell, resulting in generation closer to the junction.     

Optimization of porous silicon multilayer as antireflection coatings for solar cells

We present results of numerical simulation of optimized porous silicon (PS) multilayers used as antireflection coatings. For the simulations we introduce a figure of merit, which has into account the transmittance of PS multilayers, the solar cell internal spectral response and the solar spectrum. Using a realistic range of porosities in the simulations (from 40% to 90%) we found an optimal three layers configuration, which transfers to the cell 95.7% of the whole usable power. This value represents the 99.8% of the maximum attainable using the complete porosity range (from 0% to 100%). We fabricate the optimal PS three layers, achieving power transference to the substrate of 95.2%. In addition, taking advantage of the PS fabrication characteristics, we transferred a PS multilayer with specific optical response onto a crystalline silicon solar cell. This allows obtaining a tunable spectral response of the solar cell demonstrating the feasibility of transfer the porous antireflection coating onto any optical device.     

Screen-printed titanium dioxide anti-reflection coating for silicon solar cells

Application of a titanium organometallic ink for silicon solar cell anti-reflection coatings prepared by conventional thick-film printing methods is described. Several titanium organometallic compounds have been synthesized and tested afterwards. The optimum ink composition consists of di-isopropoxobis (pentane-2,4-dionato) titanium as the TiO₂ source, and terpineol, ethyl cellulose, butanol as the organic vehicle. The ink has been screen-printed onto polished silicon wafers and thermally treated at above 450°C to convert the printed layer to a glass-like oxide film. Reflection spectra and ellipsometric measurements have shown that the films are optically equivalent to those prepared by other more complex techniques. Silicon sol? cells with screen-printed metallization and anti-reflection coating have shown as much as 35? in efficiency over the uncoated devices.     

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.     

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.     

Efficiency improvement by porous silicon coating of multicrystalline solar cells

Shallow junction multicrystalline Si solar cells have been processed by an anodical etching technique. More than 25% improvement in short-circuit current and photovoltaic energy conversion efficiency was demonstrated. It was shown that improved performance was caused by antireflection action of the porous silicon layer as well as by the cell surface and grain boundary passivation.     

Study of the photon down‐conversion effect produced by thin silicon‐rich oxide films on silicon solar cells

In the present work, we studied the photon down‐conversion effect produced by thin films of silicon oxide with embedded silicon nanocrystals also called silicon‐rich oxide (SRO). These films have been used to absorb high energy light and the re‐emission of two or more low energy photons (~1.1 eV) with the goal of improving the external quantum efficiency and consequently the conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells. According to our results, the incorporation of a thin SRO film on the solar cell surface increases the short circuit current and the FF of the silicon solar cells; the enhancement of spectral response is due to the high photoluminescence intensity of the SRO in the visible region when irradiated with UV light. An improvement of 38% in the solar cell efficiency has been observed in our particular solar cell fabrication process by the use of an SRO film with high photoluminescence intensity, which replaces the conventional silicon dioxide film. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fabrication of nanoporous antireflection surfaces on silicon

After the surface of a silicon wafer has been texturized, the reflectance of the wafer surface can be reduced to increase the power generation efficiency of a silicon-based solar cell. This study presents the integration of self-assembled nanosphere lithography (SANSL) and photo-assisted electrochemical etching (PAECE) to fabricate a nanostructure array with a high aspect ratio on the surface of silicon wafer, to reduce its reflectance. The experimental results show that the etching depth of the fabricated nanopore array structure is about and its diameter is about 90 nm, such that the aspect ratio of the pore can reach about 68:1. The weighted mean reflectance of a blank silicon wafer is 40.2% in the wavelength range of 280-890 nm. Five-minute PAECE without SANSL reduces the weighted mean reflectance to 5.16%. Five-minute PAECE with SANSL reduces the weighted mean reflectance to 1.73%. Further coating of a 200 Å thick silicon nitride layer on the surface of a nanostructure array reduces the weighted mean reflectance even to 0.878%. The novel fabrication technology proposed in this study has the advantage of being low cost, and the fabricated nanostructure array can be employed as an antireflection structure in single crystalline silicon solar cells.     

Study on hydrogenated silicon nitride for application of high efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells

The hydrogenated silicon nitride films (SiN_x:H) deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique is commonly used as an antireflection coating as well as surface passivating layer of crystalline silicon solar cells. The refractive indices of SiN_x:H films could be changed by varying the growth gas ratio R(=NH₃/SiH₄+NH₃) and annealing temperature. For optimum SiN_x:H film, the optical and chemical characterization tools by varying the film deposition and annealing condition were employed in this study. Metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) devices were fabricated using SiN_x:H as an insulator layer and they were subjected to capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) measurements for electrical characterization. The effect of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on the surface passivation as well as antireflection properties of the SiN_x:H films deposited at various process conditions were also investigated for the fabrication of low cost and high efficiency silicon solar cells.