TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of surface texturing conditions on crystalline silicon solar cell performance
AU - Kim, Hyunho
AU - Park, Sungeun
AU - Kim, Soo Min
AU - Kim, Seongtak
AU - Kim, Young Do
AU - Tark, Sung Ju
AU - Kim, Donghwan
PY - 2013/7/20
Y1 - 2013/7/20
N2 - We carried out the surface texturing of crystalline silicon in alkaline solutions via anisotropic etching. We achieved random pyramids of about 10 μm in size. The size of these pyramids was then gradually reduced using a new solution. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the size of the pyramids on the emitter properties and the front electrode (Ag) contact. To make small (∼3.5 μm) and large (∼9.0 μm) pyramids, we controlled the texturing time and performed one-sided texturing using a silicon nitride film. We compared the formation and quality of a POCl3-diffused n + emitter in a furnace for small and large pyramids by using SEM images and emitter saturation current density (J0e) measured Quasi-Steady-State Photo-Conductance (QSSPC). For a comparison, we carried out to simulated using TCAD simulator software (SILVACO, the Athena module). After metallization, we measured the Ag contact resistance via the transfer length method (TLM). We observed the surface distributions of the Ag crystallites using SEM images. We used light I-V to measure the performance of screen-printed solar cells. The efficiency of the solar cell in the case of the small and that in the case of the large pyramids improved by about 17.4% and 17.0%, respectively. We believe that differences in the emitter uniformity and the front Ag contact resistance resulted from this difference in the cell performance. Solar cells perform better when the pyramids are small.
AB - We carried out the surface texturing of crystalline silicon in alkaline solutions via anisotropic etching. We achieved random pyramids of about 10 μm in size. The size of these pyramids was then gradually reduced using a new solution. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the size of the pyramids on the emitter properties and the front electrode (Ag) contact. To make small (∼3.5 μm) and large (∼9.0 μm) pyramids, we controlled the texturing time and performed one-sided texturing using a silicon nitride film. We compared the formation and quality of a POCl3-diffused n + emitter in a furnace for small and large pyramids by using SEM images and emitter saturation current density (J0e) measured Quasi-Steady-State Photo-Conductance (QSSPC). For a comparison, we carried out to simulated using TCAD simulator software (SILVACO, the Athena module). After metallization, we measured the Ag contact resistance via the transfer length method (TLM). We observed the surface distributions of the Ag crystallites using SEM images. We used light I-V to measure the performance of screen-printed solar cells. The efficiency of the solar cell in the case of the small and that in the case of the large pyramids improved by about 17.4% and 17.0%, respectively. We believe that differences in the emitter uniformity and the front Ag contact resistance resulted from this difference in the cell performance. Solar cells perform better when the pyramids are small.
KW - Pyramid
KW - Screen-printed silicon solar cell
KW - Surface condition
KW - Texturing
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cap.2013.01.008
DO - 10.1016/j.cap.2013.01.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84890564033
VL - 13
SP - S34-S40
JO - Current Applied Physics
JF - Current Applied Physics
SN - 1567-1739
IS - 4 SUPPL.2
ER -