SOLAR CELLS WITH 15.6% EFFICIENCY ON MULTICRYSTALLINE SILICON, USING IMPURITY GETTERING, BACK SURFACE FIELD AND EMITTER PASSIVATION

Abstract

Three features have been combined to raise the efficiency of solar cells made on industrial multicrystalline silicon wafers: 1) reduction of bulk recombination by a special gettering process, 2) reduction of back recombination by using a p/p ⁺ junction, 3) reduction of front recombination by emitter back-etching and passivation. A conversion efficiency of 15.6% has been achieved on 2 × 2 cm² solar cells. Spectral response measurements are used to identify the role of each processing parameter.