Approaching 23% with large-area monoPoly cells using screen-printed and fired rear passivating contacts fabricated by inline PECVD

Abstract

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. We present n-type bifacial solar cells with a rear interfacial SiO x /n + :poly-Si passivating contact (‘monoPoly’ cells) where the interfacial oxide and n + :poly-Si layers are fabricated using an industrial inline plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) tool. We demonstrate outstanding passivation quality with dark saturation current density (J 0 ) values of approximately 3 fA/cm 2 and implied open-circuit voltage (iV oc ) of 730 mV at 1-sun conditions after firing in an industrial belt furnace. Using a simple solar cell process flow that can be easily adapted for mass production, a peak cell efficiency of 22.8% with a cell open circuit voltage (V oc ) of 696 mV is achieved on large-area, screen-printed, Czochralski-silicon (Cz-Si) solar cells using commercial fire-through metal pastes.