The Business of Fast ALD Equipment for Depositing Alumina Passivation Layers on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells.

2011 ◽  
Vol 1353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ad Vermeer ◽  
Roger Gortzen ◽  
P. Poodt ◽  
F. Roozeboom
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Alumina Layer ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Cell Efficiency

ABSTRACTAtomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is a gas phase deposition technique for depositing very high quality thin films with an unsurpassed conformality. The main drawback of ALD however is the very low deposition rate (~ 1 nm/min). Recently, record deposition rates for alumina of up to 1 nm/s were reached using spatial ALD, while maintaining the typical assets regarding film quality as obtained by conventional, slow ALD [1]. This allows for ALD at high throughput numbers.One interesting application is passivation of crystalline silicon solar cells. Applying a thin alumina layer is reported to increase solar cell efficiency and enables the use of thinner wafers, thus reducing the main cost factor [2]. In this paper we report on the latest progress made by SoLayTec that delivered a working prototype of a system realizing full area single sided deposition of alumina on 156 x 156 mm2, mono- and multi crystalline silicon wafers for solar cell applications. The alumina layers showed excellent passivation. Based on this concept, a high-throughput ALD deposition tool is being developed targeting throughput numbers of up to 3000 wafers/hr. Finally, we report on the process of commercializing this technology.

High Throughput, Low Cost Deposition of Alumina Passivation Layers by Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition

2011 ◽  
Vol 1323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ad Vermeer ◽  
F. Roozeboom ◽  
P. Poodt ◽  
Roger Gortzen
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cell ◽  
Atomic Layer Deposition ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Alumina Layer ◽  
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Layer Deposition

ABSTRACTAtomic Layer Deposition (ALD) is a gas phase deposition technique for depositing very high quality thin films with an unsurpassed conformality. The main drawback of ALD however is the very low deposition rate (~ 1 nm/min). Recently, record deposition rates for alumina of up to 1 nm/s were reached using spatial ALD, while maintaining the typical assets regarding film quality as obtained by conventional, slow ALD [1]. This allows for ALD at high throughput numbers.One interesting application is passivation of crystalline silicon solar cells. Applying a thin alumina layer is reported to increase solar cell efficiency and enables the use of thinner wafers, thus reducing the main cost factor [2]. In this paper we report on the latest progress made by SoLayTec that delivered a working prototype of a system realizing full area single sided deposition of alumina on 156 x 156 mm2, mono- and multi crystalline silicon wafers for solar cell applications. The alumina layers showed excellent passivation. Based on this concept, a high-throughput ALD deposition tool is being developed targeting throughput numbers of up to 3000 wafers/hr, making ALD ready for mass production. This will bring on new opportunities in other applications.

scholarly journals Sliver Solar Cell Technology: Pushing the Material Boundaries

2011 ◽  
Vol 1323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Franklin ◽  
Andrew Blakers ◽  
Klaus Weber ◽  
Vernie Everet
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Device Fabrication ◽  
Manufacturing Cost ◽  
Micro Machining ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Robust Processing

ABSTRACTOne of the primary objectives of the global photovoltaic research community is to effect significant manufacturing cost reductions, either by reducing material and processing costs or by increasing solar cell efficiency. One very promising technology for achieving both of these goals is Sliver technology, which offers potential for a 10- to 20-fold reduction in the consumption of purified silicon, while at the same time achieving very high cell efficiencies by fully exploiting the advantages of mono-crystalline silicon.Sliver solar cells are thin, mono-crystalline silicon solar cells fabricated using a combination of micro-machining techniques and standard silicon device fabrication technologies. Rather than fabricating a single solar cell on the surface of a wafer, many hundreds to several thousand individual Sliver solar cells are fabricated within a single wafer. The dimensions of a Sliver cell depend upon wafer size, wafer thickness, and the micro-machining method employed.Cells typically have a length of 5 – 12cm, a width of 0.5 – 2mm, and a thickness of 20 – 60 micron. 20% efficient Sliver solar cells using standard cell processing methods and a robust processing sequence, have been fabricated at ANU. Current research efforts are directed towards developing and establishing new fabrication techniques to further simplify the fabrication sequence and to improve cell efficiency.This paper presents an overview of Sliver technology. The fabrication method and some key challenges in producing Sliver cells is presented along with the measured performance of cells fabricated in the ANU solar research laboratory.

Water as infrared filter for silicon solar cell efficiency enhancement for Kerman province of Iran as a talent region for solar energy production

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 363-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Bagher Askari ◽  
Mohammad Reza Bahrampour ◽  
Vahid Mirzaei ◽  
Amir Khosro Beheshti Marnani ◽  
Mirhabibi Mohsen
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Silicon Solar Cell ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Efficiency Enhancement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency

Purpose The aim of this paper is to apply a watery infrared filter for silicon solar cell efficiency enhancement in Kerman province of Iran as a talent region for solar energy production. Design/methodology/approach With this research, the water is applied as a filter for silicon solar cells in different volumes and thicknesses. Findings The obtained results showed that using various amounts of water could be a suitable choice for increasing the efficiency of silicon solar cells. Originality/value Other wavelength regions just cause the increase in the entropy and decrease in the efficiency. With this research, the water is applied as a filter for silicon solar cell in different volumes and thickness. The obtained results showed that using different thicknesses of water could be suitable choice for increasing the efficiency of silicon solar cell.

scholarly journals Atomic layer deposition of vanadium oxide films for crystalline silicon solar cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eloi Ros Costals ◽  
Gerard Masmitjà ◽  
Estefania Rosa Almache ◽  
Benjamin andres Pusay ◽  
Kunal Tiwari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Transition Metal Oxides ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Thermal Evaporation ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Deposition Technique ◽  
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Layer Deposition

Transition Metal Oxides (TMOs) are promising materials to develop selective contacts on high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells. Nevertheless, the standard deposition technique used for TMOs is thermal evaporation, which could...

scholarly journals The Viability of Organic Dyes in Luminescent Down-Shifting Layers for the Enhancement of Si Solar Cell Efficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 995 ◽  
pp. 71-76
Author(s):  
Aaron Glenn ◽  
Conor Mc Loughlin ◽  
Hind Ahmed ◽  
Hoda Akbari ◽  
Subhash Chandra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Organic Dyes ◽  
Polyvinyl Butyral ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell Efficiency ◽  
Cell Efficiency ◽  
Si Solar Cell ◽  
Si Solar Cells

The main energy losses in solar cells are related to spectral losses where high energy photons are not used efficiently, and energy is lost via thermalization which reduces the solar cell’s overall efficiency. A way to tackle this is to introduce a luminescent down-shifting layer (LDS) to convert these high energy photons into a lower energy bracket helping the solar cell to absorb them and thus generating a greater power output. In this paper, lumogen dye Violet 570 has been used as LDS coated films of 10μm and 60μm placed on top of Si solar cells. The dye was incorporated into polymer films of Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) and Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) after which they were tested for their absorption, transmission and emission properties. Once optimised layers had been determined, they were deposited directly onto silicon solar cells and the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the Si solar cells were measured with and without the LDS layers. The resulting graphs have shown an increase of up to 2.9% in the overall EQE efficiency after the lumogen films had been applied.

Characterization of Nanoporous Silicon Layer to Reduce the Optical Losses of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 3713-3716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soohong Lee ◽  
Eunjoo Lee
Keyword(s):  
Surface Modification ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Crystalline Silicon ◽  
Electrochemical Etching ◽  
Wavelength Region ◽  
Silicon Solar Cells ◽  
Porous Si ◽  
Optical Losses ◽  
Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

Reduction of optical losses in crystalline silicon solar cells by surface modification is one of the most important issues of silicon photovoltaics. Porous Si layers on the front surface of textured Si substrates have been investigated with the aim of improving the optical losses of the solar cells, because an anti-reflection coating and a surface passivation can be obtained simultaneously in one process. We have demonstrated the feasibility of a very efficient porous Si AR layer, prepared by a simple, cost effective, electrochemical etching method. Silicon p-type CZ (100) oriented wafers were textured by anisotropic etching in sodium carbonate solution. Then, the porous Si layers were formed by electrochemical etching in HF solutions. After that, the properties of porous Si in terms of morphology, structure and reflectance are summarized. The structure of porous Si layers was investigated using SEM. The formation of a nanoporous Si layer on the textured silicon wafer result in a reflectance lower than 5% in the wavelength region from 500 to 900 nm. Such a surface modification allows improving the Si solar cell characteristics. An efficiency of 13.4% is achieved on a monocrystalline silicon solar cell using the electrochemical technique.

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