Industrial Si Solar Cells With Cu-Based Plated Contacts

Until today, most industrial c-Si solar cells have been limited by front emitter and front metal contact properties. This study demonstrates that laser ablation and inline plating of nickel and copper followed by inline thermal annealing results in improved performance and reduced cost. Stable efficiencies exceeding 20.8% on p-type PERC CZ-Si solar cells have been independently confirmed by FhG-ISE CalLab. Average fill factors up to 80.8% have been demonstrated on large-area solar cells with a homogeneous emitter P surface concentration below 4 × 10¹⁹ P/cm³. Reliable module performance according to the IEC61215 standard is reported.