Improvement of multicrystalline silicon wafer solar cells by post-fabrication wet-chemical etching in phosphoric acid

In this study, we have improved electrical characteristics such as the efficiency ( η ) and the fill factor (FF) of finished multicrystalline silicon ( mc -Si) solar cells by using a new chemical treatment with a hot phosphoric (H 3 PO 4 ) acidic solution. These mc -Si solar cells were made by a sta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBulletin of materials science Vol. 34; no. 7; pp. 1689 - 1692
Main Authors Mefoued, A., Fathi, M., Bhatt, J., Messaoud, A., Palahouane, B., Benrekaa, N.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published India Springer-Verlag 01.12.2011
Springer Nature B.V
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Summary:In this study, we have improved electrical characteristics such as the efficiency ( η ) and the fill factor (FF) of finished multicrystalline silicon ( mc -Si) solar cells by using a new chemical treatment with a hot phosphoric (H 3 PO 4 ) acidic solution. These mc -Si solar cells were made by a standard industrial process with screen-printed contacts and a silicon nitride (SiN) antireflection coating. We have deposited SiN thin layer (80 nm) on p -type mc -Si substrate by the mean of plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) technique. The reactive gases used as precursors inside PECVD chamber are a mixture of silane (SiH 4 ) and ammonia (NH 3 ) at a temperature of 380°C. The developed H 3 PO 4 chemical surface treatment has improved η from 5·4 to 7·7% and FF from 50·4 to 70·8%, this means a relative increase of up to 40% from the initial values of η and FF. In order to explain these improvements, physical (AFM, EDX), chemical (FTIR) and optical (spectrophotometer) analyses were done.
ISSN:0250-4707
0973-7669
DOI:10.1007/s12034-011-0378-8