Material Quality Requirements for Efficient Epitaxial Film Silicon Solar Cells

Alberi, Kirstin; Martin, Ina T.; Shub, Maxim; Teplin, Charles W.; Romero, Manuel J.; Reedy, Robert C.; Iwaniczko, Eugene; Duda, Anna; Stradins, Paul; Branz, Howard M.; Young, David L.

doi:10.1063/1.3309751

Material Quality Requirements for Efficient Epitaxial Film Silicon Solar Cells

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3309751· OSTI ID:1036360

Alberi, Kirstin; Martin, Ina T.; Shub, Maxim; Teplin, Charles W.; Romero, Manuel J.; Reedy, Robert C.; Iwaniczko, Eugene; Duda, Anna; Stradins, Paul; Branz, Howard M.; Young, David L.

The performance of 2-..mu..m-thick crystal silicon (c-Si) solar cells grown epitaxially on heavily doped wafer substrates is quantitatively linked to absorber dislocation density. We find that such thin devices have a high tolerance to bulk impurities compared to wafer-based cells. The minority carrier diffusion length is about half the dislocation spacing and must be roughly three times theabsorber thickness for efficient carrier extraction. Together, modeling and experimental results provide design guidelines for film c-Si photovoltaic cells.

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Solar Energy Technologies Program

DOE Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1036360

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-270-47595; MainId:49466; UUID:16b8e05f-e9d4-e411-b769-d89d67132a6d; MainAdminId:31558

Journal Information:: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 96; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (12)

Effect of dislocations on minority carrier diffusion length in practical silicon solar cells Kieliba, Thomas; Riepe, Stephan; Warta, Wilhelm Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 100, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2338126	journal	September 2006
Structural and electrical properties of epitaxial Si layers prepared by E-beam evaporation Dogan, P.; Rudigier, E.; Fenske, F. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 516, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2007.12.082	journal	August 2008
Crystalline Si thin-film solar cells: a review Bergmann, R. B. Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing, Vol. 69, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s003390050989	journal	August 1999
Doping of high-quality epitaxial silicon grown by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition near 700 °C Martin, Ina T.; Branz, Howard M.; Stradins, Paul Thin Solid Films, Vol. 517, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2009.01.059	journal	April 2009
Polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells on glass by aluminium-induced crystallisation and subsequent ion-assisted deposition (ALICIA) Aberle, A. G.; Straub, A.; Widenborg, P. I. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 13, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.577	journal	January 2005
Analysis of ultrathin high-efficiency silicon solar cells Kray, Daniel; McIntosh, Keith R. physica status solidi (a), Vol. 206, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.200824500	journal	July 2009
Electron-Beam-Induced Currents in Semiconductors Hanoka, J. I.; Bell, R. O. Annual Review of Materials Science, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ms.11.080181.002033	journal	August 1981
Low‐temperature silicon epitaxy by ultrahigh vacuum/chemical vapor deposition Meyerson, B. S. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 48, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.96673	journal	March 1986
Impurities in silicon solar cells Davis, J.R.; Rohatgi, A.; Hopkins, R.H. IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Vol. 27, Issue 4, p. 677-687 https://doi.org/10.1109/T-ED.1980.19922	journal	April 1980
Large open-circuit voltage improvement by rapid thermal annealing of evaporated solid-phase-crystallized thin-film silicon solar cells on glass Terry, Mason L.; Straub, Axel; Inns, Daniel Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 86, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1921352	journal	April 2005
Contribution of silicon substrates to the efficiencies of silicon thin layer solar cells Arch, J. K.; Brendel, R.; Werner, J. H. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 45, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927-0248(96)00074-8	journal	February 1997
Thin-film polycrystalline Si solar cells on foreign substrates: film formation at intermediate temperatures (700–1300 °C) Beaucarne, G.; Bourdais, S.; Slaoui, A. Applied Physics A, Vol. 79, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-004-2739-2	journal	August 2004

Similar Records

Preparation and properties of high quality crystalline silicon films grown by ECR plasma deposition

Book · Fri Dec 30 23:00:00 EST 1994 · OSTI ID:191006

Defects in Epitaxial Lift-Off Thin Si Films/Wafers and Their Influence on the Solar Cell Performance

Conference · Mon Apr 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · OSTI ID:1504214

Epitaxial Crystal Silicon Absorber Layers and Solar Cells Grown at 1.8 Microns per Minute

Conference · Fri Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2010 · OSTI ID:1049006

Related Subjects

DESIGN
DIFFUSION LENGTH
DISLOCATIONS
IMPURITIES
MATERIALS SCIENCE
SOLAR ENERGY
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
RECOMMENDATIONS
SILICON
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SIMULATION
SOLAR CELLS
SUBSTRATES
THICKNESS
TOLERANCE
carrier lifetime
elemental semiconductors
photovoltaic cells
semiconductor epitaxial layers
silicon
solar cells

Material Quality Requirements for Efficient Epitaxial Film Silicon Solar Cells

Citation Formats

References (12)

Similar Records

Related Subjects