Multicrystalline silicon thin film solar cells based on vanadium oxide heterojunction and laser doped contacts

in: Physica Status Solidi A-Applications and Materials Science (2019)
Plentz, Jonathan; Martín, Isidro; López, Gema; Jin, Chen; Ortega, Pablo; Voz, Cristóbal; Puigdollers, Joaquim; Gawlik, Annett; Jia, Guobin; Andrä, Gudrun
Liquid phase crystallized (LPC) silicon thin films on glass substrates are a feasible alternative to conventional crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers for solar cells. Due to substrate limitation, a low temperature technology is needed for solar cell fabrication. While silicon heterojunction is typically used, in this work the combination of vanadium oxide/c-Si heterojunction as emitter and base contacts defined by IR laser processing of phosphorus-doped amorphous silicon carbide stacks is explored. LPC solar cells are fabricated using such technologies in order to identify their issues and advantages with a promising performance of an active-area efficiency of 5.6%. Apart from the absence of light trapping techniques, the relatively low efficiency obtained is attributed to a low lifetime in the LPC silicon bulk. These poor material properties imply a short diffusion length that makes that only photogenerated carriers in the emitter regions could be collected. Consequently, future devices should show narrower base contact regions, suggesting a shorter-wavelength laser, combined with longer LPC substrate lifetimes.

Third party cookies & scripts

This site uses cookies. For optimal performance, smooth social media and promotional use, it is recommended that you agree to third party cookies and scripts. This may involve sharing information about your use of the third-party social media, advertising and analytics website.
For more information, see privacy policy and imprint.
Which cookies & scripts and the associated processing of your personal data do you agree with?

You can change your preferences anytime by visiting privacy policy.