Screen Printed Solar Cells
< Solid State Diffusion Buried Contract Solar Cells >
Screen-printed solar cells were first developed in the 1970's. As such, they
are the best established, most mature solar cell fabrication technology, and
screen-printed solar cells currently dominate the market for terrestrial
photovoltaic modules. The key advantage of screen-printing is the relative
simplicity of the process.
There are a variety of processes for manufacturing screen-printed solar
cells. The production technique given in the animation below is one of the
simplest techniques and has since been improved upon by many
manufacturers and research laboratories.
An
imation showing a basic technique for fabricating screen printed solar cells.
There are many variations to the scheme shown above which give higher
efficiencies, lower costs or both. Some techniques have already been
introduced into commercial production while others are making progress
from the labs to the production lines.
1. Phosphorous Diffusion
Screen-printed solar cells typically use a simple homogeneous
diffusion to form the emitter where the doping is the same beneath
the metal contacts and between the fingers. To maintain low contact
resistance, a high surface concentration of phosphorous is required
below the screen-printed contact. However, the high surface
concentration of phosphorous produces a "dead layer" that reduces
the cell blue response. Newer cell designs can contact shallower
emitters, thus improving the cell blue response. Selective emitters
with higher doping below the metal contacts have also been proposed
1, 2 - but none have yet been introduced into commercial production.
2. Surface Texturing to Reduce Reflection
Wafers cut from a single crystal of silicon (monocrystalline material)
are easily textured to reduce reflection by etching pyramids on the
wafer surface with a chemical solution. While such etching is ideal for
monocrystalline CZ wafers, it relies on the correct crystal orientation,
and so is only marginally effective on the randomly orientated grains
of multicrystalline material. Various schemes have been proposed to
texture multicrystalline materials by using one of the following
processes:
1. mechanical texturing of the wafer surface with cutting tools or
lasers 3, 4, 5;
2. isotropic chemical etching based on defects rather than crystal
orientation 6;
3. isotropic chemical etching in combination with a
photolithographic mask 7, 8;
4. plasma etching 9.
3. Antireflection Coatings and Fire Through Contacts
Antireflection coatings are particularly beneficial for multicrystalline
material that cannot be easily textured. Two common antireflection
coatings are titanium dioxide (TiO2) and silicon nitride (SiNx). The
coatings are applied through simple techniques like spraying or
chemical vapour deposition. In addition to the optical benefits,
dielectric coatings can also improve the electrical properties of the
cell by surface passivation. By screen-printing over the antireflection
coating with a paste containing cutting agents, the metal contacts can
fire though the antireflection coating and bond to the underlying
silicon. This process is very simple and has the added advantage of
contacting shallower emitters 10.
4. Edge Isolation
There are various techniques for edge isolation such as plasma
etching, laser cutting, or masking the border to prevent a diffusion
from occurring around the edge in the first place.
5. Rear Contact
A full aluminium layer printed on the rear on the cell, with
subsequent alloying through firing, produces a back surface field
(BSF) and improves the cell bulk through gettering. However, the
aluminium is expensive and a second print of Al/Ag is required for
solderable contact. In most production, the rear contact is simply
made using a Al/Ag grid printed in a single step.
6. Substrate
Screen-printing has been used on a variety of substrates. The
simplicity of the sequence makes screen-printing ideal for poorer
quality substrates such as multicrystalline material as well as CZ. The
general trend is to move to larger size substrates - up to 15 x 15 cm 2
for multicrystalline materials and wafers as thin as 200 µm.
Close up of a screen used for printing the front contact
of a solar cell. During printing, metal paste is forced
through the wire mesh in unmasked areas. The size of
the wire mesh determines the minimum width of the
fingers. Finger widths are typically 100 to 200 µm.
Close up of a finished screen-printed solar cell. The
fingers have a spacing of approximately 3 mm. An extra
metal contact strip is soldered to the busbar during
encapsulation to lower the cell series resistance.
