Numerical Simulation on the Influence of Via and Rear Emitters in MWT Solar Cells

Author

Magnone, Paolo ; De Rose, R. ; Tonini, D. ; Frei, M. ; Zanuccoli, M. ; Belli, Alberto ; Galiazzo, Marco ; Sangiorgi, Enrico ; Fiegna, Claudio

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr., Electron., & Inf. Eng., Univ. of Bologna, Cesena, Italy

Volume

4

Issue

4

fYear

2014

fDate

Jul-14

Firstpage

1032

Lastpage

1039

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze, by means of numerical simulations, metal wrap through (MWT) silicon solar cells without a rear emitter and/or via an emitter that feature a Schottky contact between the Ag metal and the p-base. We show how the effective Schottky barrier height affects both dark and illuminated properties of the cell. An equivalent electrical model for the dark analysis is proposed, which accounts for the shunting effects and the thermionic-emission current at Ag/p-base contact. We investigate the figures of merit of MWT solar cells for different via configurations, highlighting the influence of the Ag/p-base barrier height. Moreover, the influence of the rear busbar width, as well as of the operating temperature, is analyzed.

Keywords

Schottky barriers; electrical contacts; elemental semiconductors; numerical analysis; semiconductor-metal boundaries; silicon; silver; solar cells; thermionic emission; MWT silicon solar cells; Schottky barrier height; Schottky contact; Si-Ag; barrier height; dark analysis; equivalent electrical model; metal wrap through silicon solar cells; numerical simulation; operating temperature; rear busbar width; rear emitters; shunting effects; thermionic-emission current; via configurations; via emitters; Dark current; Degradation; Metallization; Photovoltaic cells; Resistance; Schottky barriers; Back-contact; Schottky; metal wrap through (MWT); photovoltaics; simulation; solar cell; via;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photovoltaics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-3381

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JPHOTOV.2014.2317945

Filename

6817553