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Industrially feasible, dopant‐free, carrier‐selective contacts for high‐efficiency silicon solar cells
Author(s) -
Yang Xinbo,
Weber Klaus,
Hameiri Ziv,
De Wolf Stefaan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
progress in photovoltaics: research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.286
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1099-159X
pISSN - 1062-7995
DOI - 10.1002/pip.2901
Subject(s) - dopant , materials science , wafer , silicon , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , monocrystalline silicon , solar cell , photovoltaic system , titanium dioxide , fabrication , engineering physics , doping , electrical engineering , metallurgy , engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Dopant‐free, carrier‐selective contacts (CSCs) on high efficiency silicon solar cells combine ease of deposition with potential optical benefits. Electron‐selective titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) contacts, one of the most promising dopant‐free CSC technologies, have been successfully implemented into silicon solar cells with an efficiency over 21%. Here, we report further progress of TiO 2 contacts for silicon solar cells and present an assessment of their industrial feasibility. With improved TiO 2 contact quality and cell processing, a remarkable efficiency of 22.1% has been achieved using an n ‐type silicon solar cell featuring a full‐area TiO 2 contact. Next, we demonstrate the compatibility of TiO 2 contacts with an industrial contact‐firing process, its low performance sensitivity to the wafer resistivity, its applicability to ultrathin substrates as well as its long‐term stability. Our findings underscore the great appeal of TiO 2 contacts for industrial implementation with their combination of high efficiency with robust fabrication at low cost. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.