Lecture 6

Monocrystalline Solar Cells

References:
1. Physics of Solar Cells. Jenny Nelson. Imperial College Press, 2003.
2. Photovoltaic Materials, Series on Properties of Semiconductor
Materials, Vol.1, Richard H. Bube, Imperial College Press, 1998.
3. Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering. Antonio Luque,
Steven Hegedus. Wiley, 2003.
4. Photovoltaic Solar Energy Generation. Adolf Goetzberger, Volker U.
Hoffmann. Springer, 2005.
5. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page).

Principles of Cell Design

Efficient photovoltaic energy conversion requires efficient light absorption,
efficient charge separation and efficient charge transport.

For good optical absorption, (1) large optical depth, (E)(xp+xn) for
photon energy E>Eg; (2) small reflectivity of the surface, R(E).

For good charge separation, (1) large built-in bias Vbi demanding high
doping gradient across the junction; (2) slow charge recombination in the
junction region; (3) junction located close to the surface for effective
charge separation over a range of wavelengths.

For efficient minority and majority carrier transport, (1) long minority
carrier lifetimes (n, p) and diffusion lengths (Ln, Lp), small surface
recombination velocities (Sn, Sp); (2) small series resistance Rs and large
shunt resistance Rsh.

The band gap should be close to the optimum for the intended solar
spectrum, bs(E).

Some of the demands are contradictory and a compromise must be found.

General Material/Design Features

Efficiency/ %

40

Ge

Si

InP

GaAs

The thickness should exceed the

absorption length, for efficient light
absorption.

The junction should be shallow

compared to both the diffusion length
in the emitter and the absorption
length, to avoid having a dead layer
at the front of the cell.

The emitter should be doped heavily

to improve conductivity to the metallic
contacts on the front of the cell. Heavy
emitter doping also allows the base to
be doped lightly, improving collection
in the neutral base region without
limiting VOC.

30
20
10
Single band gap solar cell under AM1.5

0
0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

Band Gap/ eV

2.50

Monocrystalline, Multicrystalline:
crystal grain size is comparable with or
larger than the device thickness.
Polycrystalline, Microcrystalline: the
grain size is much smaller than device Reflection of light should be
minimized, and treated with an antithickness. Grain boundary effects may
reflection (AR) coating (refractive
dominate charge transport.
index between sc and air).

Silicon Material Properties

SILICON
Group IV element;
Tetrahedral crystal structure (ambient);
Indirect band gap semiconductor;
Band gap is 1.1 eV (ambient);
Refractive index is ~3.4 and natural
reflectivity is ~40% over visible
wavelength.

The Czochralski method

Production of Single Crystal Silicon

Silicon Material Properties

Doping
Silicon can be readily doped n type by the addition of pentavalent phosphorus
impurity atoms, p type by the addition of trivalent boron. Doping is needed in
the emitter to reduce Rs and increase Vbi/VOC, while heavily doping may
reduce VOC and induce recombination.
Recombination
Electron recombination in the lightly doped p region is dominant, as the
heavily doped n region (emitter) is rather thin and photogeneration is
negligible. The net recombination rate U

U = U rad + U Aug + U SRH

Different processes will have different temperature and doping dependence.
In lightly doped p-silicon at room temperature, SRH dominates. In more
heavily doped silicon or at higher temperature, Auger dominates.

Carrier Transport
Electron mobility in p-silicon is higher than the hole mobility in n-silicon doped
to the same level. Carrier collection is more efficient in p-silicon than in an nlayer. So cells are designed as n-p cells with a thin n type emitter on top of a
thick p type base.

Silicon Solar Cell Design

A typical silicon solar cell is an n-p junction
made in a wafer of p-silicon.
The p-wafer forms the base of the cell and
is thick (300-500 m) in order to absorb as
much light as possible and is lightly doped
(~1016 cm-3) to improve diffusion length.
The n type emitter is created by dopant
diffusion and is heavily doped (~1019 cm-3)
to reduce Rs. This layer should be thin to
allow as much light as possible to pass
through to the base.

Energy
emitter
n-type

base
p-type

EC

EF
300 m

EV
0.3 m

Distance

doping density

The dopant profile in the diffused n layer is

not uniform and the junction not abrupt.
The front surface is anti-reflection coated.
Both front/back surfaces are contacted
before encapsulation in a glass covering.

distance
n+

Silicon Solar Cell Fabrication

Typical Processing Sequence:
TiO2, Ta2O5, Si3N4

Phosphorus Diffusion

N2+POCl3

(a) A quartz furnace; and (b) a belt furnace for the diffusion of phosphorus

Screen Printing Process:

10

Optimization of Silicon Solar Cell Design

1
0.8
0.6

absorption

0.4
0.2
0

recombination
0

50 100 150 200 250 300

500 nm light
Cumulative rate/
Incident flux

Cumulative rate/
Incident flux

1000 nm light
1
0.8

absorption

0.6
0.4
0.2
0

recombination
0

50 100 150 200 250 300

Depth/m

Depth/m

For a silicon solar cell,

Absorption of light close to the band gap is poor.

Bulk recombination in p region is most important.
Rear surface recombination is important.

To improve the performance of cell it is necessary to maximize the

absorption of red light, minimize recombination at the rear surface,
and minimize series resistance. Bulk recombination is already as low as
can be expected for good quality silicon.

11

Strategies to Enhance Absorption

1. Texturing of front surface: The front surface is textured to reduce reflectivity
and increase the optical path length. Light trapping is improved by using inverted
pyramids (improved total internal reflection of light).

Mc-Si surface after acid etching

12

Strategies to Enhance Absorption

2. Optimization of contacts: Shading of the front surface by metal contacts
reduces the surface area available to the incident light. Reduced contact area
increases the available surface area but increases the resistance. A large contact
area can be achieved without increasing the surface shading by embedding the
contacts in the sc.

Laser grooved buried grid solar cell process

13

Strategies to Reduce Surface Recombination

1. Back surface field (BSF): A more heavily
doped layer is formed at the back surface of the
p-base by alloying with Al or by diffusion. This
EF
introduces a p+-p junction and presents a
potential barrier to the minority electron. The
BSF reflects electrons and reduces the effective
rear surface recombination. The extra p+-p
junction also adds to Vbi, and may enhance VOC.
2. Passivation of front surface with thin
oxide coating: The high surface recombination
velocity at a free surface tends to create a
dead layer. Oxidizing the surface creates a
thin layer of the wide band gap insulator, SiO2,
preventing carriers from reaching the surface
and hence reduces the effective surface
recombination velocity. The Si/SiO2 interface is
much less defective than a free Si surface.

EC

EV
p

p+

The microgrooved passivated emitter

solar cell (PESC cell) of 1985, the first
silicon cell to exceed 20% efficiency.

14

Strategies to Reduce Surface Recombination

3. Use of point contact at rear: Since the Si/M interface is more defective than
Si/SiO2 interface, rear surface recombination can be reduced by contacting part
of the rear p layer with metal, using point contacts. The rest of the surface can
then be passivated with oxide.

p+

p+

p contact

p contact

In order to avoid problems with series

resistance, the region of sc close to the
point contacts is differentially doped p+.
oxide layer

15

Strategies to Reduce Series Resistance

1. Optimization of the n region doping: Reduced doping improves collection
from the n region, giving a better response to the blue light. Increased n doping
increases Vbi and reduces series resistance, while very high n doping may
reduce VOC because of Auger recombination and band gap narrowing.
2. Differential doping of the area around the contacts: For point and grid
contacts, the current density through the material close to the contacted area
is high. Doping this volume heavily reduces the losses to series resistance.
3. Narrow but deep finger in front contact, as above: The high aspect ratio
reduces surface area blocked by contacts without reducing finger cross
sectional area, and the relatively high contact area between fingers and
semiconductor reduces the current density at the contact.

16

Evolution of Silicon Solar Cell Design

Space silicon cell design developed
in the early 1960s, which became a
standard design for over a decade.

Chemically textured non-reflecting

black cell (so called because of
their almost zero reflectivity) in the
early 1980s, and exhibited
efficiencies of up to 17%.

17

Evolution of Silicon Solar Cell Design

h
n+
n contact

n-

p+
p contact

n-

n+

oxide layer

n contact

Rear point contact solar cell which

demonstrated 22% efficiency in
1988 (cell rear shown uppermost).
The cell is made from lightly doped
n type silicon with heavily doped n
and p type regions close to contacts
on the rear surface. The front
surface is passivated and textured
as usual.

18

Evolution of Silicon Solar Cell Design

The passivated
emitter and rear
cell (PERC cell).

The passivated emitter,

rear locally diffused cell
(PERL cell) which took
efficiency above 24% in
the early 1990s.

19

Evolution of Silicon Solar Cell Design

The passivated emitter, rear
totally diffused cell (PERT cell).

the passivated emitter, rear

floating junction cell (PERF cell)

20

Fabrication of Silicon Photovoltaic Module

Exploded view of a standard silicon photovoltaic module. The different layers

shown are laminated together under pressure at a temperature around 140
150 oC where the transparent EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) softens and binds
the different layers together on cooling.

21

Future Directions in Silicon Cell Design

The performance of silicon solar cells is now fairly close to the theoretical
maximum of 29%.

The main challenges are now in improving cell production techniques in

order to mass-produce efficient cells more cheaply.

An approach is the thin film microcrystalline silicon cell with the objective
to reduce bulk recombination losses without losing absorption and
effective light trapping.

Silicon is not an ideal solar cell material because:

Its band gap (1.1 eV) is smaller than the optimum (1.4 eV) for terrestrial
solar energy conversion.

It is indirect band gap material with small absorption coefficient. So a

relatively thick layer of silicon is needed which increases the cost.

The temperature dependence of efficiency makes silicon less suitable for

application under concentrated light and in space.

22

III-V Semiconductor Material Properties

III-V Semiconductor

An alloy containing equal

numbers of atoms from groups
III and V;
Zinc blende crystal structure
(ambient);
Band gap is controllable by
replacing some of the group III
atoms with another group III
elements.

Eg/eV
Nature of Density Dielectric
at 300 K Energy Gap at 300K Constant
AlP

2.45

Indirect

9.8

AlAs

2.153

Indirect

3.717

10.06

AlSb

1.615

Indirect

4.29

12.04

GaP

2.272

Indirect

4.129

11.1

GaAs

1.424

Direct

5.318

12.5

GaSb

0.75

Direct

5.63

15.7

InP

1.344

Direct

4.81

12.4

InAs

0.76

Direct

5.69

14.6

InSb

0.17

Direct

5.80

17.7

http://www.semiconductors.co.uk/propiiiv5653.htm

23

III-V Semiconductor Material Properties

The best understood and most widely
used III-V semiconductor is gallium
arsenide (GaAs). It is also the most
suitable for solar energy conversion. As
a direct band gap semiconductor, its
absorption coefficient is 10 times that of
silicon, so only a few microns rather
than hundreds of microns are needed
for the active layer of the solar cell.
GaAs solar cell has better temperature coefficient than silicon, and performs
better under concentration and in space where temperature is normally high.
InP has a suitable Eg for photovoltaic conversion and is particularly attractive
for space applications because of its radiation hardness.
Ternary alloys: AlxGa1-xAs, InxGa1-xP, InxGa1-xAs, etc.

24

III-V Semiconductor Material Properties

Doping
III-V sc can be doped by replacing one of the elements with one of different
valence. n-GaAs can be obtained by replacing some of the trivalent Ga with
controlled amount of tetravalent Si/Sn. p-GaAs can be prepared by replacing
some of the Arsenic atoms with Carbon, or replacing some of Ga with Be.
Recombination
Radiative recombination is faster in GaAs than in Si and may dominate in
very pure material. In practical materials, SRH recombination through defect
states dominates. Hole lifetime is up to one order of magnitude shorter than
that of electron in p-GaAs doped to the same level.
In p-n devices, SRH recombination in the space charge region dominates
performance, and the dark current tends to vary with m=2 at low bias. At
higher forward bias, m=1 as radiative recombination begins to dominate.
Carrier Transport
Electrons have a higher mobility than holes in GaAs. The diffusion length of
minority carrier is a few microns in moderately doped GaAs. Ternary alloys
such as n-AlxGa1-xAs, minority carrier diffusion length is less than 0.1 m.

25

Overview of GaAs Solar Cells

As the diffusion length of minority carrier
in either doping GaAs is greater than the
absorption depth, cell can be prepared
either as p-n or n-p designs.
In either case, the emitter should be as
thin as possible without increasing series
resistance too much.
For p-n design, a 0.5 m emitter doped
to 1018 cm-3 is typical. For the n-p
design , the emitter can be as thin as 0.2
m because of the higher n type
conductivity.
In practice, p+-n designs seem to perform better than n+-p designs. the base
is much shorter than in silicon cells, typically 2-4 m which is comparable with
the diffusion length.

26

Optimization of GaAs Solar Cell Design

1
0.8

500 nm light

recombination
Cumulative rate/
Incident flux

Cumulative rate/
Incident flux

800 nm light

0.6
0.4
0.2
0

absorption
0

2
Depth/m

1
0.8
recombination

0.6
0.4
0.2
0

absorption
0

Depth/m

For a GaAs solar cell,

Absorption of light is good at all wavelengths.

Front surface recombination is important for long wavelengths
Bulk recombination is unimportant relative to junction and surface.
Rear surface recombination is negligible because of the high absorption.

To optimize GaAs cell design it is necessary to minimize front surface

recombination, minimize junction recombination, minimize series
resistance, and minimize substrate cost.

27

Strategies to Reduce Front Surface Recombination

Because of the high absorption coefficient,
contribution of the emitter to the photocurrent
is not negligible and that surface and bulk
recombination in this region are important.

EC
p+-AlGaAs

p-GaAs
EF

1. Front surface field (FSF): A heavily doped

n-GaAs
layer is introduced by diffusion, as the BSF in
silicon cells.
2. Window layers: Front surface recombination can be reduced by introducing
a front surface window of a higher band gap material to reflect electron away
from the surface. Similar to BSF, the higher band gap of window layer presents
a potential barrier to electrons generated in the p region. The window layer is
transparent to most visible light, but the interface with the bulk GaAs is much
less defective. (Buried homojunction)
3. Heterojunctions: Fabricate the whole emitter from a wider gap material
than the base, producing a p-n heterojunction. So the emitter still absorbs blue
light but recombination is suppressed. In addition, the wider gap emitter may
increase VOC. However, it is likely to introduce defect and assist recombination.
EV

28

Strategies to Optimize GaAs Solar Cells

p-

Al

4. Graded emitters: Grade the composition of

the p layer, from GaAs near to the junction, to a
high band gap alloy at the front surface. The
electric field introduced by the compositional
gradient assists electron migration to the
junction. (AlxGa1-xAs of varying Al fraction.)

EC

xG

a1

-x A

p+-AlGaAs
EV

EF
n-GaAs

Strategies to reduce series resistance: It is particularly important for GaAs

concentrator cells. For a cell under 100 suns, the sheet resistance should be
less than 10-3 Ohm-cm2, while the front surface contact pattern should be
designed to minimize shading without enhancing series resistance.
Strategies to reduce substrate cost: Substrate should have the same lattice
constant as the cell material in order not to introduce crystal defects at the rear
surface. GaAs is prohibitively expensive to be the substrate. Ge can be used
but is rather rare. One approach is to use polycrystalline GaAs as cell material,
in which case lattice matching with a substrate is less important. 20% efficient
poly-GaAs cells have been obtained.

29

III-V Material Preparation and Cell Fabrication

MBE

MOVPE

III-Vs are grown by a number of epitaxial techniques such as liquid phase

epitaxy (LBE), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal-organic chemical
vapor deposition (MOCVD) and metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy
(MOVPE). These techniques allow minute control of the composition and
layer thickness, while very costly.

30

GaAs Solar Cell Development

In the development of p+-AlGaAs/p-GaAs/n-GaAs
heteroface junction plays a dominant role.
Reflection is minimized using anti-reflection coat.
Texturing is not suitable because of the larger
size of light trapping structures compared to the
device thickness, and sensitivity of front surface.
The record for highest efficiency is 25.1% for a
single junction cell without concentration, and
29.2% for a single junction with concentration.
One of the advantages of GaAs solar cell is its
insensitivity to an increase in temperature - a
monotonic decrease in efficiency of 0.033% per
degree, and it is suitable for concentrator and
space application.

31

Summary

32