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

High-efficiency silicon solar cells for a 22-sun line-focus module

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6960501· OSTI ID:6960501
;  [1]
  1. Solarex Corp., Rockville, MD (USA). Aerospace Div.

The purpose of this program was for Solarex, a commercial silicon solar cell supplier, to demonstrate the capability of fabricating high efficiency 38.4 cm{sup 2} concentrator cells in a production environment. These cells were designed for use in 22-sun line-focus concentrator module that could generate 20 kW for the PVUSA EMT-1 project. The cells were fabricated using p-type, .8 ohm-cm silicon, randomly textured fronts, dual-layer anti-reflective coatings, passivated emitters, restricted emitter/metallization contact areas, and silver gridlines with large cross-sectional areas. Prismatic covers were used to eliminate losses from gridline shadowing. Cell efficiencies as high as 20.34% were demonstrated on covered cells at 20 suns air mass 1.5 illumination. The process sequence includes a single diffusion step, a thin thermal oxide growth, and two mechanically registered photolithography steps. 13 figs., 3 tabs.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA); Solarex Corp., Rockville, MD (USA). Aerospace Div.
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/CE
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-76DP00789
OSTI ID:
6960501
Report Number(s):
SAND-90-7026; ON: DE90010242
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English