Stable Dopant-Free Asymmetric Heterocontact Silicon Solar Cells with Efficiencies above 20%

Bullock, James; Wan, Yimao; Xu, Zhaoran; Essig, Stephanie; Hettick, Mark; Wang, Hanchen; Ji, Wenbo; Boccard, Mathieu; Cuevas, Andres; Ballif, Christophe; Javey, Ali

doi:10.1021/acsenergylett.7b01279

Title: Stable Dopant-Free Asymmetric Heterocontact Silicon Solar Cells with Efficiencies above 20%

Journal Article · 25 January 2018 · ACS Energy Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.7b01279 · OSTI ID:1638186

^[1];

^[2]; Xu, Zhaoran ^[1]; Essig, Stephanie ^[3]; Hettick, Mark ^[1]; Wang, Hanchen ^[1]; Ji, Wenbo ^[1]; Boccard, Mathieu ^[3]; Cuevas, Andres ^[4]; Ballif, Christophe ^[3];

^[1]

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences; Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division; Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia). Research School of Engineering
Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne, Neuchatel (Switzlerland). Institute of Micro Engineering (IMT)
Australian National Univ., Canberra, ACT (Australia). Research School of Engineering

Development of new device architectures and process technologies is of tremendous interest in crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaics to drive enhanced performance and/or reduced processing cost. In this regard, an emerging concept with a high-efficiency potential is to employ low/high work function metal compounds or organic materials to form asymmetric electron and hole heterocontacts. Here, this Letter demonstrates two important milestones in advancing this burgeoning concept. First, a high-performance, low-temperature, electron-selective heterocontact is developed, comprised of a surface passivating a-Si:H layer, a protective TiO_x interlayer, and a low work function LiF_x/Al outer electrode. This is combined with a MoO_x hole-selective heterocontact to demonstrate a cell efficiency of 20.7%, the highest value for this cell class to date. Second, we show that this cell passes a standard stability test by maintaining >95% of its original performance after 1000 h of unencapsulated damp heat exposure, indicating its potential for longevity.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; European Research Council (ERC); Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); Australian Research Council; Australia-US Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics (AUSIAPV)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; SC0004993; EE0008162; 706744; DP150104331; ACAP6.9

OSTI ID:: 1638186

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1684615

Report Number(s):: UCB-08162-2; DOE-UCB-08162-2; ark:/13030/qt3km103c8

Journal Information:: ACS Energy Letters, Vol. 3, Issue 3; ISSN 2380-8195

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 151 works

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