Homogeneous p+ emitter diffused using boron tribromide for record 16.4% screen-printed large area n-type mc-Si solar cell

A record efficiency of 16.4% (156.25 cm2) has been achieved for an n-type wafer-based (hereafter, “n-based”) mc-Si solar cell. A horizontal quartz tube furnace with an industry-compatible scale is employed for forming a p+-emitter using boron tribromide (BBr3) as the boron source, in which system less contamination is confirmed than in other options of boron diffusion. A significantly homogeneous emitter is achieved with the standard deviation of 1.5 Ω/sq. n-Based mc-Si solar cells are fabricated with phosphorus-diffused BSF, SiN deposition, and fire-through screen-printed contacts. The properties of the best cell are; η: 16.4%, Voc: 607 mV, Jsc: 35.2 mA/cm2, and FF: 76.7%.