Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon Emitter and Back-Surface-Field Contacts for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Conference ·
OSTI ID:860682

Thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) are investigated as emitters and back-surface-field (BSF) contacts to make silicon heterojunction solar cells on p-type crystalline silicon wafers. A common requirement for excellent emitter and BSF quality is minimization of interface recombination. Best results require immediate a Si:H deposition and an abrupt and flat interface to the c-Si substrate. We obtain record 16.9% and 14.8% efficiencies on p-type planar float-zone (FZ) and Czochralski (CZ) silicon substrates, respectively, with HWCVD a-Si:H(n) emitters and Al-BSF contacts. Initial efforts with p-type HWCVD Si thin films as the BSF have yielded 12.5% efficiency on p type CZ-Si.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-99GO10337
OSTI ID:
860682
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-520-37033
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English