High-flux solar furnace processing of silicon solar cells

Book · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:191015

Tsuo, Y S; Pitts, J R; Landry, M D; Bingham, C E; Lewandowski, A; Ciszek, T F ^[1]

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1. National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)

The authors used a 10-kW high-flux solar furnace (HFSF) to diffuse the front-surface n{sup +}-p junction and the back-surface p-p{sup +} junction of single-crystal silicon solar cells in one processing step. They found that all of the HFSF-processed cells have better conversion efficiencies than control cells of identical structures fabricated by conventional furnace diffusion methods. HFSF processing offers several advantages that may contribute to improved solar cell efficiency: (1) it provides a cold-wall process, which reduces contamination; (2) temperature versus time profiles can be precisely controlled; (3) wavelength, intensity, and spatial distribution of the incident solar flux can be controlled and changed rapidly; (4) a number of high-temperature processing steps can be performed simultaneously; and (5) combined quantum and thermal effects may benefit overall cell performance. The HFSF has also been successfully used to texture the surface of silicon wafers and to crystallize a-Si:H thin films on glass.

• DOE Contract Number: AC36-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 191015
• Report Number(s): CONF-941203--; ISBN 0-7803-1459-X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM
CRYSTALLIZATION
CURRENT DENSITY
DOPED MATERIALS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FABRICATION
FILL FACTORS
GLASS
HYDROGEN
INDIUM OXIDES
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PALLADIUM ALLOYS
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SILVER ALLOYS
SOLAR FURNACES
SURFACE COATING
TIN OXIDES
TITANIUM ALLOYS