Polycrystalline silicon solar cells on recrystallized metallurgical silicon

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976

OSTI ID:7257655

Yoo, H II

This dissertation is concerned with the purification of metallurgical silicon and the fabrication of epitaxial solar cells on metallurgical silicon. Polycrystalline silicon substrates were prepared by the unidirectional recrystallization of the purified metallurgical silicon in a graphite boat, and their structural and electrical properties are characterized. Solar cell structures were deposited on the recrystallized metallurgical silicon substrates by the hydrogen reduction of trichlorosilane containing appropriate dopants. Limited studies on the effects of thickness and dopant concentration in the epitaxial silicon layers were carried out. The dark current-voltage measurements of the solar cells indicated the recombination and shunt dominant characteristics in polycrystalline junctions at voltages below about 0.3 V. The current-voltage characteristics of epitaxial solar cells measured under illumination indicated that their AMO efficiencies were up to 5%. Solar cells were also fabricated from the recrystallized metallurgical silicon by the diffusion technique; however, their AMO efficiencies were only of the order of 1.5%.

• OSTI ID: 7257655
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
CRYSTAL DOPING
CRYSTALS
DIMENSIONS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
EFFICIENCY
ELEMENTS
EPITAXY
FABRICATION
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
POLYCRYSTALS
PURIFICATION
RECOMBINATION
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SUBSTRATES
THICKNESS