Lorenzo Roybal

Efficient heterojunction solar cells on p-type crystal silicon wafers

Efficient crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells are fabricated on p-type wafers using amorphous silicon emitter and back contact layers. The independently confirmed AM1.5 conversion efficiencies are 19.3% on a float-zone wafer and 18.8% on a Czochralski wafer; conversion efficiencies show no significant light-induced degradation. The best open-circuit voltage is above 700 mV. Surface cleaning and passivation play important roles in heterojunction solar cell performance.

Well Passivated a-Si:H Back Contacts for Double-Heterojunction Silicon Solar Cells

We have developed hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) back contacts to both p-and n-type silicon wafers, and employed them in double-heterojunction solar cells. These contacts are deposited entirely at low temperature (<250degC) and replace the standard diffused or alloyed back-surface-field contacts used in single-heterojunction (front-emitter only) cells. High-quality back contacts require excellent surface passivation, indicated by a low surface recombination velocity of minority-carriers (S) or a high open-circuit voltage (Voc). The back contact must also provide good conduction for majority carriers to the external circuit, as indicated by a high light I-V fill factor. We use hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) to grow a-Si:H layers for both the front emitters and back contacts. Our improved a-Si:H back contacts contribute to our recent achievement of a confirmed 18.2% efficiency in double-heterojunction silicon solar cells on p-type textured silicon wafers [1]

Crystal silicon heterojunction solar cells by hot-wire CVD

Hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) is a promising technique for fabricating Silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. In this paper we describe our efforts to increase the open circuit voltage (Voc) while improving the efficiency of these devices. On p-type c-Si float-zone wafers, we used a double heterojunction structure with an amorphous n/i contact to the top surface and an i/p contact to the back surface to obtain an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 679 mV in a 0.9 cm2 cell with an independently confirmed efficiency of 19.1%. This is the best reported performance for a cell of this configuration. We also made progress on p-type CZ wafers and achieved 18.7% independently confirmed efficiency with little degradation under prolong illumination. Our best Voc for a p-type SHJ cell is 0.688 V, which is close to the 691 mV we achieved for SHJ cells on n-type c-Si wafers.

High-Efficiency Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells by HWCVD

We report progresses in the development of silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD). A confirmed 18.2% efficiency on a p-type textured wafer has been achieved based on improvements in surface passivation by a-Si:H emitter and back contact as well as in fill factor. The primary objective of high open-circuit voltage (Voc) is achieved by front a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction optimization, by replacing a conventional Al-alloyed or P-diffused back-surface field with a back c-Si/a-Si:H heterojunction, and by maintaining excellent surface passivation on textured silicon wafers. We first obtain a Voc of 652 mV with a front a-Si:H(n/i) heterojunction emitter on p-type solar cells with an Al back-surface-field (BSF) contact. The high-temperature Al-BSF is then successfully replaced by low-temperature HWCVD-deposited a-Si:H(i/p) layers as the back contact. Lifetime measurement shows the surface recombination velocity (SRV) is reduced to ~15 cm/sec. A higher Voc of 676 mV is obtained with an a-Si:H(n/i) front-emitter and a-Si:H(i/p) back-contact double-heterojunction SHJ solar cell structure, indicating superior back-surface passivation of the textured p-wafer. On n-type silicon wafers, we use an a-Si:H(p/i) front emitter and an a-Si:H(i/n) back contact, to achieve a Voc of 711 mV, the highest voltage obtained by the HWCVD technique so far. Good fill factors are also obtained using the amorphous-phase materials as the back contacts. S-shaped I-V curves are observed if doping cross-contamination are present among different a-Si:H layers or doping level is not enough in the TCO-contacting p-type a-Si:H layer

Hydrogenated amorphous si deposition for high efficiency a-Si/c-Si heterojunction solar cells

We study the differences in hydrogenated amorphous Si (a-Si:H) depositions between Hot-Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition (HWCVD) and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) for high efficiency a-Si/c-Si heterojunction (HJ) solar cells. In HWCVD, process gases such as silane decompose from the high-temperature hot filament. The resulting deposition is thought to be gentle due to the lack of ion bombardment that may cause damage to c-Si surface. In PECVD, process gases decompose from a high frequency electric field and ion bombardment is expected during the a-Si:H deposition. We found that the initial minority carrier lifetime of a-Si:H passivated high-quality n-type wafer was higher (about a ms) with the HWCVD process, and the final minority carrier lifetime (after 250°C annealing) was higher (over a few ms) with the PECVD process. These findings suggest that the damage from the ion bombarding in PECVD is not as detrimental as we expected; or if there is damage, it can be repaired by the annealing. We also speculate that the lack of further increase of the lifetime after annealing with HWCVD intrinsic a-Si:H layer can be related to the direct substrate heating from the hot filament during the deposition. A high substrate temperature will promote epi-Si growth and drive hydrogen out of the a-Si/c-Si interface to decrease the quality of surface passivation. To reduce the heating effect, a shutter and a low filament temperature are preferred. With the optimized process, we were able to fabricate HJ solar cells with high open circuit voltage of 714 mV and efficiency greater than 19% on an un-textured n-type wafer using the PECVD process, and independently confirm best efficiency of 19.7% on textured n-type wafer with the HWCVD process.

Efficient black silicon solar cells with nanoporous anti-reflection made in a single-step liquid etch

We fabricated black silicon solar cells with conversion efficiency of 16.8% on p-type single crystal Si wafers with a conventional diffused emitter and Al back-surface field (BSF). We replaced the anti-reflection coating step with a single 3-minute ‘black-silicon’ etch of the bare wafer before processing. The nanoporous black-silicon layer, about 300-nm thick is produced in a 3-minute single-step liquid etch based upon catalysis by Au nano-particles formed in a solution containing HF and H2O2. Solar cell reflectance is well below 5% at incident wavelengths from 350 to 1000 nm. We present reflectance versus time data during this simple single-step etching. We also characterize cell performance and find that recombination in the black silicon surface layer must still be reduced.

Photoconductive decay lifetime and Suns-V oc diagnostics of efficient heterojunction solar cells

Minority carrier lifetime and Suns-Voc measurements are well-accepted methods for characterization of solar cell devices. We use these methods, with an instrument from Sinton Consulting, as we fabricate and optimize state-of-the-art all hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) silicon heterojunction (SHJ) devices. For double-sided SHJ devices, lifetime measurements were performed immediately after hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposition of the front emitter and back base contacts on a Silicon wafer, and also after indium tin oxide (ITO) deposition of transparent conducting oxide contacts. We report results of minority carrier lifetime measurements for double-sided p-type Si heterojunction devices and compare Suns-Voc results to Light I–V measurements on 1-cm2 solar cell devices measured on an AM1.5 calibrated XT-10 solar simulator.

17.8%-efficient Amorphous Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells on p -type Silicon Wafers

We have achieved an independently-confirmed 17.8% conversion efficiency in a 1-cm 2 , p-type, float-zone silicon (FZ-Si) based heterojunction solar cell. Both the front emitter and back contact are hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD). This is the highest reported efficiency for a HWCVD silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell. Two main improvements lead to our most recent increases in efficiency: 1) the use of textured Si wafers, and 2) the application of a-Si:H heterojunctions on both sides of the cell. Despite the use of textured c-Si to increase the short-circuit current, we were able to maintain the same 0.65 V open-circuit voltage as on flat c-Si. This is achieved by coating a-Si:H conformally on the c-Si surfaces, including covering the tips of the anisotropically-etched pyramids. A brief atomic H treatment before emitter deposition is not necessary on the textured wafers, though it was helpful in the flat wafers. It is essential to high efficiency SHJ solar cells that the emitter grows abruptly as amorphous silicon, instead of as microcrystalline or epitaxial Si. The contact on each side of the cell comprises a thin ( 200°C) and grown from PH 3 /SiH 4 /H 2 and B 2 H 6 /SiH 4 /H 2 doping gas mixtures, respectively. This combination of low (intrinsic) and high (doped layer) growth temperatures was optimized by lifetime and surface recombination velocity measurements. Our rapid efficiency advance suggests that HWCVD may have advantages over plasma-enhanced (PE) CVD in fabrication of high-efficiency heterojunction c-Si cells; there is no need for process optimization to avoid plasma damage to the delicate, high-quality, Si wafers.

Process optimization for high efficiency heterojunction c-Si solar cells fabrication using Hot-Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition

The researchers extensively studied the effects of annealing or thermal history of cell process on the minority carrier lifetimes of FZ n-type c-Si wafers with various i-layer thicknesses from 5 to 60 nm, substrate temperatures from 100 to 350°C, doped layers both p- and n-types, and transparent conducting oxide (TCO). Hot-Wire Chemical Vapor Deposition (HW-CVD) was used to achieve high lifetime, high open circuit voltage (Voc), and high efficiency in crystalline silicon (c-Si) heterojunction (HJ) solar cells. The minority carrier lifetime with i-layer passivation in as-grown state was found to peak at 200°C substrate temperature. Annealing c-Si with as-grown layers affects the lifetime significantly. The optimized annealing temperature is from 250-350°C. It was also found that the lifetime of c-Si wafers with a very thin i/p passivation decreases significantly when annealed at temperatures higher than 250°C. However, the lifetime of the i/p passivated c-Si wafers is not affected by the p-layer even when the i-layer is as thin as 10 nm. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to understand the annealing effect. For the c-Si wafers with i/n passivation, the minority carrier lifetime is usually longer than 2 ms and slightly improved by annealing. Minority carrier lifetime greater than 1 ms in a double side HJ structure with i/n and i/p layers can be achieved by controlling thermal history of the cell process. HJ cells were fabricated with an efficiency >;18% on n-type wafers without texturing, and an efficiency of 19.2% with texturing.

Photovoltaic device characterization with optical second harmonic generation

Optical second harmonic generation (SHG) has a long history of being used to selectively characterize surfaces and interface in a variety of materials, including semiconductors. Here, we briefly summarize the physics of SHG and explain why it is a promising characterization technique for photovoltaics (PV), where interfaces and surfaces play critical roles in device performance. We then show experimental results of initial SHG measurements performed on silicon heterojunction solar cells as they are swept through current-voltage curves.