17.5% p-Type Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells with HWCVD a-Si:H as the Emitter and Back Contact

Conference · Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 2005

OSTI ID:882612

Wang, T H; Page, M R; Iwaniczko, E; Wang, Q; Xu, Y; Yan, Y; Roybal, L; Levi, D; Bauer, R; Branz, H M; Yelundur, V; Rohatgi, A

Thin hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) layers deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) are used as both emitters and back contacts in silicon heterojunction solar cells. Low interface recombination velocity and high open-circuit voltage are achieved by a low substrate temperature (<150 deg C) intrinsic a-Si:H deposition which ensures immediate amorphous silicon deposition. This is followed by deposition of doped a-Si:H at a higher temperature (>200 deg C) which appears to improve dopant activation. With an i/n a-Si:H emitter, we obtain a confirmed efficiency of 17.1% on textured p-type float-zone (FZ) silicon with a screen-printed aluminum back-surface-field (Al-BSF) contact. Employing a-Si:H as both the front emitter and the back contact, we achieve a confirmed efficiency of 17.5%, the highest reported efficiency for a p-type c-Si based heterojunction solar cell.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-99GO10337
• OSTI ID: 882612
• Report Number(s): NREL/CP-520-38942
• Conference Information: Presented at the 2005 DOE Solar Energy Technologies Program Review Meeting held November 7-10, 2005 in Denver, Colorado. Also included in the proceedings available on CD-ROM (DOE/GO-1020060-2245; NREL/CD-520-38577)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELLS
NREL
PHOTOVOLTAICS
PV
Silicon Materials and Devices
SOLAR
Solar Energy - Photovoltaics