9th Silicon PV

Leuven, 2019

Impact of the thermal

budget of the emitter
formation on the pFF of
PERC+ solar cells

P. Jäger1, U. Baumann1,
T. Dullweber1
1Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin
(ISFH), Germany
Introduction
SEGA analysis from [3] for
an bifacial PERC+ cell • PERC cells have a market share
of 50% expected to reach 75% in
2026 [1]

• An efficiency of 22.1% was

recently reached at ISFH [2]

• Efficiency mainly limited by

recombination in the emitter [3]

• With in-situ oxidation J0,e values

of down to 22 fA/cm2 were
demonstrated at 150 Ohm/sq [4]
[1] ITRPV 10th edition 2019 - report release and key findings; [3] C. Kruse, C. Bothe, B. Lim, T. Dullweber, R. Brendel; Proc.
(2019), Penang, Malaysia [https://itrpv.vdma.org/] 35th EUPVSEC, Brussels, Belgium (2018)
[2] Dullweber et. al.; Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 57 (2018) [4] T. Dullweber et. al.; Prog. Photovolt: Res. Appl. Vol. 25, pp.
509-514 (2016)

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Prozess flow of emitter formation

(*) processed
without busbars

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ECV profiles and J0,e values

• Phosphorus surface
concentration decreases by a
power of 10 from 3 ×1020 cm3 to
3 ×1019 cm3 when applying both
in-situ and ex-situ oxidation
• J0,e values decrease from
106 fA/cm2 to 22 fA/cm2 at 130
Ohm/sq when oxidized ex-situ at
850 °C (not shown in the graph)

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Resulting iVOC values

• These low J0,e values result in an

increase in the iVoc from 665 mV
to 712 mV
• This corresponds to a overall J0
of 37 fA/cm2 (unmetallalized)

p-type Cz Si

iVoc test structure

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Cell characteristics

• Efficiency increase from 20.6% to

21.3% with oxidation
• Without busbars: 21.9% w/o
oxidation and 21.8% with ex-situ
@850°C are reached
• Low J0,e values lead to increasing
Voc from 655 mV to 678 mV
• Fill factor losses of 2%abs. with
growing thermal budget

(*) processed
without busbars

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Series resistances

• The series resistance is hardly

influenced

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pFF dependence on thermal budget

• The series resistance is hardly

influenced

• With increasing temperature

budget the pFF decreases by
1.5%abs.

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J02 dependence on thermal budget

• The series resistance is hardly

influenced

• With increasing temperature

budget the pFF decreases by
1.5%abs.
• Modelling the IV-curve with a
two diode model we find
increasing J02 values

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Examination of pFF losses – test
structures

Emitter • Two lifetime test structures

a) Representing the front side
b) Representing the bulk
SiNx
• Measurement of the lifetime
using the QSSPC method
AlOy • Calculation of the suns-iVOC
curve yielding the implied fill
factors iFF for each cell part [1]

[1] R. A. Sinton, A. Cuevas and M. Stuckings, Proc. 25. IEEE

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Washington DC, USA, pp. 457
– 460 (1996)

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Examination of pFF loss - calculations

• From the lifetime curves we

calculate suns-iVoc curves
• Interpolating data to calculate
a combined curve from both
test structures giving an
combined iFF

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Examination of pFF loss - interpolation

• Interpolated data and

calculated combined curve
from both test structures
giving an combined iFF
• Compare them with the
measured pFF from IV curves

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Comparism of the iFF

• The calculated iFF follows the

decreasing trend of the
measured pFF quite well
• The bulk shows lower values,
but no trend
• A decreasing trend can be
observed for the emitter
• Both parts seem to be
impaired by the thermal
budget

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Comparism of different wafer materials

• Three materials boron doped

• Two materials gallium doped
• Process: Ex-situ ox. 3
• Again the calculated iFF
follows the trend of the
measurd pFF quite well

• The pFF as well as the iFF

shows a distinct dependency
on the material

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Conclusion

• The in-situ and ex-situ oxidation steps leads to J0,e = 22 fA/cm2 and
iVOC = 712 mV

• The efficiency increases from 20.6% to 21.3%. Without busbars 21.9%

w/o oxidation is achieved, and 21.8% with in-situ and ex-situ ox.

• Efficiency is limited by a loss in FF of 2%abs, caused mainly by a

decreasing pFF of 1.5%

• This corresponds to a penalty in efficiency of approx. 0.5%abs

• The decreasing pFF is caused by an increasing J02
• The iFF of the emitter shows a decreasing tendency with growing
thermal budget, while the values for the bulk seem to be limiting the
max. FF

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Acknowledgments

• Thanks for your kind attention!

• This work was funded by the state of Lower Saxony and the Federal
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) under grant number
0325753D (HighPERC), 0325753D (GENESIS) and 0324171C
(NextStep).

• We thank Verena Mertens for her help with the iFF analyzation method
and Sonja Bräuning and Till Brendemühl for processing and evaluation

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