Record Voc-Values for Thin-Film Polysilicon Solar Cells on Foreign Substrates using a Heterojunction Emitter

Thin-film polysilicon solar cells on foreign substrates are often considered as a promising low cost alternative to bulk silicon solar cells. Until now however, the obtained efficiencies and open-circuit voltages are far below those of other technologies. In this paper, we show how the open-circuit voltage can be enhanced significantly using an amorphous silicon-crystalline silicon heterojunction emitter instead of a diffused homojunction emitter. Open-circuit voltages up to 536 mV were obtained for polysilicon layers with a heterojunction emitter. This is the highest open-circuit voltage obtained for polysilicon solar cells with a p-n structure on foreign substrates