Dependence of cell performance on wafer thickness for BSF and non-BSF cells

Author

Koval, T. ; Wohlgemuth, J. ; Kinsey, B.

Author_Institution

Solarex Corp., Frederick, MD, USA

fYear

1996

fDate

13-17 May 1996

Firstpage

505

Lastpage

507

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a set of experiments designed to study the relationship between cell thickness and efficiency for cast polycrystalline silicon solar cells. Cells without back surface field are less efficient as they get thinner. Short circuit current, open circuit voltage and fill factor all decrease as the non-BSF cells get thinner. However, cells made with an aluminum paste back surface field show the opposite relationship; thinner cells are more efficient. This higher efficiency for thinner BSF cells is the result of higher short circuit current and higher fill factor. The physics behind these results are discussed

Keywords

aluminium; elemental semiconductors; semiconductor device metallisation; short-circuit currents; silicon; solar cells; 200 to 300 mum; Al; Al paste; BSF cells; Si; Si-Al; aluminum paste back surface field; back surface field; cast polycrystalline silicon solar cells; cell performance; efficiency; fill factor; non-BSF cells; open circuit voltage; short circuit current; thinner cells; wafer thickness; Artificial intelligence; Computational geometry; Firing; Short circuit currents; Solid modeling; Surface fitting; Surface waves; Thickness measurement; Voltage; Wavelength measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1996., Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE

Conference_Location

Washington, DC

ISSN

0160-8371

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3166-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.1996.564054

Filename

564054