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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Evaluation of thick-film inks for solar cell grid metallization

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5901409· OSTI ID:5901409

A study is described of commercially available thick-film conductor inks to determine their suitability for use as solar cell front electrical contacts. By varying processing parameters such as firing profile and length of HF etch, it was that most of the silver-based inks formed good electrical contacts. Regardless of ink composition, adjustment of processing parameters is necessary to optimize the performance of a thick-film solar cell contact. The base-metal conductor inks tested were found to be unsuitable for solar cell front metallization. The two major problems encountered were high diffusivities in silicon and high series resistances introduced by the base-metal contacts.

Research Organization:
Solar Energy Research Inst., Golden, CO (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-77CH00178
OSTI ID:
5901409
Report Number(s):
SERI/TR-611-1186; ON: DE82005615
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English