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Minimising bulk lifetime degradation during the processing of interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells

Minimising bulk lifetime degradation during the processing of interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells
Minimising bulk lifetime degradation during the processing of interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells
In this work, we develop a fabrication process for an interdigitated back contact solar cell using BBr3 diffusion to form the p+ region and POCl3 diffusion to form the n+ regions. We use the industry standard technology computer‐aided design modelling package, Synopsys Sentaurus, to optimize the geometry of the device using doping profiles derived from electrochemical capacitance voltage measurements. Cells are fabricated using n‐type float‐zone silicon substrates with an emitter fraction of 60%, with localized back surface field and contact holes. Key factors affecting cell performance are identified including the impact of e‐beam evaporation, dry etch damage, and bulk defects in the float zone silicon substrate. It is shown that a preoxidation treatment of the wafer can lead to a 2 ms improvement in bulk minority carrier lifetime at the cell level, resulting in a 4% absolute efficiency boost.
1062-7995
38-47
Rahman, Tasmiat
e7432efa-2683-484d-9ec6-2f9c568d30cd
To, Alexander
1cf82753-7ed7-4ffc-9c18-241b3f75b100
Pollard, Michael E.
c439d195-6e7c-48d7-ab81-a20c72b72632
Grant, Nicholas E.
cb68df2e-c0eb-4ce7-968e-07d2713bacd9
Colwell, Jack
e4c4ce72-d157-40c3-bd1b-c4e11cfb0e82
Payne, David N.R.
50b6610f-a762-4b72-850a-60726220fd32
Murphy, John D.
532103eb-b0e0-40d8-bcb8-1b60964133b8
Bagnall, Darren M.
5d84abc8-77e5-43f7-97cb-e28533f25ef1
Hoex, Bram
88e5df81-ee87-49f1-b924-6c88df595a05
Boden, Stuart A.
83976b65-e90f-42d1-9a01-fe9cfc571bf8
Rahman, Tasmiat
e7432efa-2683-484d-9ec6-2f9c568d30cd
To, Alexander
1cf82753-7ed7-4ffc-9c18-241b3f75b100
Pollard, Michael E.
c439d195-6e7c-48d7-ab81-a20c72b72632
Grant, Nicholas E.
cb68df2e-c0eb-4ce7-968e-07d2713bacd9
Colwell, Jack
e4c4ce72-d157-40c3-bd1b-c4e11cfb0e82
Payne, David N.R.
50b6610f-a762-4b72-850a-60726220fd32
Murphy, John D.
532103eb-b0e0-40d8-bcb8-1b60964133b8
Bagnall, Darren M.
5d84abc8-77e5-43f7-97cb-e28533f25ef1
Hoex, Bram
88e5df81-ee87-49f1-b924-6c88df595a05
Boden, Stuart A.
83976b65-e90f-42d1-9a01-fe9cfc571bf8

Rahman, Tasmiat, To, Alexander, Pollard, Michael E., Grant, Nicholas E., Colwell, Jack, Payne, David N.R., Murphy, John D., Bagnall, Darren M., Hoex, Bram and Boden, Stuart A. (2018) Minimising bulk lifetime degradation during the processing of interdigitated back contact silicon solar cells. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 26 (1), 38-47. (doi:10.1002/pip.2928).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In this work, we develop a fabrication process for an interdigitated back contact solar cell using BBr3 diffusion to form the p+ region and POCl3 diffusion to form the n+ regions. We use the industry standard technology computer‐aided design modelling package, Synopsys Sentaurus, to optimize the geometry of the device using doping profiles derived from electrochemical capacitance voltage measurements. Cells are fabricated using n‐type float‐zone silicon substrates with an emitter fraction of 60%, with localized back surface field and contact holes. Key factors affecting cell performance are identified including the impact of e‐beam evaporation, dry etch damage, and bulk defects in the float zone silicon substrate. It is shown that a preoxidation treatment of the wafer can lead to a 2 ms improvement in bulk minority carrier lifetime at the cell level, resulting in a 4% absolute efficiency boost.

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PIPV_manuscript_accepted_Aug17 - Accepted Manuscript
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In preparation date: 2017
Accepted/In Press date: 9 August 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 September 2017
Published date: January 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 413141
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/413141
ISSN: 1062-7995
PURE UUID: 42fab880-fc02-4bac-b943-4b5866a8efe5
ORCID for Stuart A. Boden: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4232-1828

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Date deposited: 16 Aug 2017 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 05:38

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Contributors

Author: Tasmiat Rahman
Author: Alexander To
Author: Michael E. Pollard
Author: Nicholas E. Grant
Author: Jack Colwell
Author: David N.R. Payne
Author: John D. Murphy
Author: Darren M. Bagnall
Author: Bram Hoex
Author: Stuart A. Boden ORCID iD

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