• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.267-271
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• 2019

A shingled PV module is manufactured by dividing and bonding. In this method, the solar cell is divided by lasers and bonded using electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs). Consequently, the manufacturing cost increases because a process step is added. Therefore, we aim to reduce the production cost by reducing the amount of Ag paste used in the solar cell front. Various electrode structures were designed and simulated. The number of fingers was optimized by designing thinner fingers, and the number of fingers with the maximum power conversion efficiency was confirmed. The simulation confirmed the maximum efficiency in the 4-divided electrode pattern. The amount of Ag paste used for each electrode pattern was calculated and analyzed. The number of fingers was optimized by decreasing the width of the finger; this will not only reduce the amount of Ag paste required but also the increase the efficiency.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.370-375
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• 2016

In this paper, we investigated the electrical properties of crystalline silicon solar cell fabricated with Ni/Cu/Ag plating. The laser process was used to ablate silicon nitride layer as well as to form the selective emitter. Phosphoric acid layer was spin-coated to prevent damage caused by laser and formed selective emitter during laser process. As a result, the contact resistance was decreased by lower sheet resistance in electrode region. Low sheet resistance was obtained by increasing laser current, but efficiency and open circuit voltage were decreased by damage on the wafer surface. KOH treatment was used to remove the laser damage on the silicon surface prior to metalization of the front electrode by Ni/Cu/Ag plating. Ni and Cu were plated for each 4 minutes and 16 minutes and very thin layer of Ag with $1{\mu}m$ thickness was plated onto Ni/Cu electrode for 30 seconds to prevent oxidation of the electrode. The silicon solar cells with KOH treatment showed the 0.2% improved efficiency compared to those without treatment.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제26권12호
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• pp.858-862
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• 2013

The front electrode should be used to make solar cell panel so as to collect electron. The front electrode is used by paste type, printed on the Si-solar cell wafer and sintered at about $800^{\circ}C$. The paste is composed Ag powder and glass frit which make the ohmic contact between Ag electrode and n-type semiconductor layer. From the previous study, the Ag electrodes which used two commercial glass frit of Bi-system were so different on the interface resistance. The main composition of them was Bi-Zn-B-Si-O and few additives added in one of them. In this study, glass frit was made with the ratio of $Bi_2O_3$ and ZnO on the main composition, and then paste using glass frit was prepared respectively. And, also, the paste using the glass frit added oxide additives were prepared. The change of interface resistance was not large with the ratio of $Bi_2O_3$ and ZnO. In the case of G6 glass frit, 78 wt% $Bi_2O_3$ addition, the interface resistance was $190{\Omega}$ and most low. In the glass frit added oxide, the case of Ca increased over 10 times than it of G6 glass frit on the interface resistance. It was thaught that after sintering, Ca added glass frit was not flowed to the interface between Ag electrode and wafer but was in the Ag electrode.

• 신재생에너지
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.64-69
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• 2022

Double-sided photovoltaic (PV) modules have received significant attention in recent years as a technology that can achieve higher annual energy production rates than single-sided modules. The shingled technology is a promising method for manufacturing high-density and high-power modules. These modules are divided by laser and joined with electrically conductive adhesives. The output efficiency of the divided cells depends on the division pattern and the electrode pattern, making it important to understand the output characteristics. In this study, the output characteristics of large-area double-sided light-receiving shingled cells with different split patterns and electrode patterns were investigated. The M6 size, with 6 divisions in the electrode pattern, had the highest efficiency when using 142 front fingers and 146 rear fingers. The M10 size, with 7 divisions, had the highest output when using 150 fingers equally in the front and rear. The M12 size, also with 7 divisions, showed the highest output characteristics when using 192 front fingers and 208 rear fingers.

• E2M - 전기 전자와 첨단 소재
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• 제9권6호
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• pp.593-599
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• 1996

Laser scribing of silicon plays an important role in metallization including the grid pattern and the front surface geometry which means aspect ratio of metal contacts. To make a front metal electrode of buried contact solar cell, we used ND:YAG lasers that deliver average 3-4W at TEM$\_$00/ mode power to sample stage. The Q-switched Nd:YAG laser of 1.064 gm wavelength was used for silicon scribing with 20-40.mu.m width and 20-200.mu.m depth capabilities. After silicon slag etching, the groove width and depth for buried contact solar cell are -20.mu.m and 30-50.mu.m respectively. Using MEL 40 Nd:YAG laser system, we can scribe the silicon surface with 18-23.mu.m width and 20-200.mu.m depth controlled by krypton arc lamp power, scan speed, pulse frequency and beam focusing. We fabricated a buried contact Silicon Solar Cell which had an energy conversion efficiency of 18.8 %. In this case, the groove width and depth are 20.mu.m and 50.mu.m respectively.

• 한국태양에너지학회 논문집
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• 제40권5호
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• pp.35-45
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• 2020

Photovoltaic (PV) power system prices have been steadily dropping in recent years due to their mass production and advances in relevant technology. Crystalline silicon (c-Si wafers) account for the largest share of the price of solar cells; reducing the thickness of these wafers is an essential part of increasing the price competitiveness of PV power systems. However, reducing the thickness of c-Si wafers is challenging; typically, phenomena such as bowing and cracking are encountered. While several approaches to address the bowing phenomenon of the c-Si solar cells exist, the only method to study the crack phenomenon (related to the strength of the c-Si solar cells) is the bending test method. Moreover, studies on determining the strength properties of the solar cells have focused largely on c-Si wafers, while those on the strength properties of front and rear-side electrodes and SiNx, the other components of c-Si solar cells, are scarce. In this study, we analyzed the strength characteristics of each layer of c-Si solar cells. The strength characteristics of the sawing mark direction produced during the production of c-Si wafers were also tested. Experiments were conducted using a 4bending tester for a specially manufactured c-Si solar cell. The results indicate that the back side electrode is the main component that experienced bowing, while the front electrode was the primary component regulating the strength of the c-Si solar cell.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.107-112
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• 2017

The BCBJ (Back Contact and Back Junction) or back-lit solar cell design eliminates shading loss by placing the pn junction and metal electrode contacts all on one side that faces away from the sun. However, as the electron-hole generation sites now are located very far from the pn junction, loss by minority-carrier recombination can be a significant issue. Utilizing Medici, a 2-dimensional semiconductor device simulation tool, the interdependency between the substrate thickness and the minority-carrier recombination lifetime was studied in terms of how these factors affect the solar cell power output. Qualitatively speaking, the results indicate that a very high quality substrate with a long recombination lifetime is needed to maintain the maximum power generation. The quantitative value of the recombination lifetime of minority-carriers, i.e., electrons in p-type substrates, required in the BCBJ cell is about one order of magnitude longer than that in the front-lit cell, i.e., $5{\times}10^{-4}sec$ vs. $5{\times}10^{-5}sec$. Regardless of substrate thickness up to $150{\mu}m$, the power output in the BCBJ cell stays at nearly the maximum value of about $1.8{\times}10^{-2}W{\cdot}cm^{-2}$, or $18mW{\cdot}cm^{-2}$, as long as the recombination lifetime is $5{\times}10^{-4}s$ or longer. The output power, however, declines steeply to as low as $10mW{\cdot}cm^{-2}$ when the recombination lifetime becomes significantly shorter than $5{\times}10^{-4}sec$. Substrate thinning is found to be not as effective as in the front-lit case in stemming the decline in the output power. In view of these results, for BCBJ applications, the substrate needs to be only mono-crystalline Si of very high quality. This bars the use of poly-crystalline Si, which is gaining wider acceptance in standard front-lit solar cells.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제24권9호
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• pp.502-507
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• 2014

Recently, improvement in the conversion efficiency of silicon-based solar cells has been achieved by decreasing emitter doping concentration, because the lightly doped emitter can effectively prevent the recombination of electrons and holes generated by solar light irradiation. This type of emitter is very thin due to the low doping concentration, thus conductive materials (i.e., silver) used for front electrodes can easily penetrate the emitter during a firing process because of their large diffusivity in silicon. This results in junction leakage currents which might reduce cell efficiencies. In this study, $Al_2O_3$-coated Ag powders were synthesized by an ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method and applied to the conductive materials of the front electrode to control the junction leakage current. The $Al_2O_3$ shell obstructs the Ag diffusion into the emitter during the firing process. The powder is spherical with a core-shell structure and the thickness of the $Al_2O_3$ shell is tens of nanometers. Solar cells were fabricated using pure Ag powders or the $Al_2O_3$-coated Ag powder as front electrode materials, and the conversion efficiency and junction leakage current were compared to investigate the role of the $Al_2O_3$ shell during the firing processes.

• 한국재료학회지
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.19-24
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• 2006

ZnO:Al(AZO) films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering on glass substrate and textured by post-deposition chemical etching were applied as front contact and back reflectors for ${\mu}c$-Si:H thin film solar cells. For the front transparent electrode contact, AZO films were prepared at various working pressures and substrate temperature and then were chemically etched in diluted HCl(1%). The front AZO films deposited at low working pressure(1 mTorr) and low temperature ($240^{\circ}C$) exhibited uniform and high transmittance ($\geq$80%) and excellent electrical properties. The solar cells were optimized in terms of optical and electrical properties to demonstrate a high short-circuit current.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.246-251
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• 2013

Screen printing is commonly used to form the front/back electrodes in silicon solar cell. But it has caused high resistance and low aspect ratio, resulting in decreased conversion efficiency in solar cell. Recently the plating method has been combined with screen-printed c-Si solar cell to reduce the resistance and improve the aspect ratio. In this paper, we investigated the effect of light induced silver plating with screen-printed c-Si solar cells and compared their electrical properties. All wafers were textured, doped, and coated with anti-reflection layer. The metallization process was carried out with screen-printing, followed by co-fired. Then we performed light induced Ag plating by changing the plating time in the range of 20 sec~5min with/without external light. For comparison, we measured the light I-V characteristics and electrode width by optical microscope. During plating, silver ions fill the porous structure established in rapid silver particle sintering during co-firing step, which results in resistance decrease and efficiency improvement. The plating rate was increased in presence of light lamp, resulting in widening the electrode with and reducing the short-circuit current by shadowing loss. With the optimized plating condition, the conversion efficiency of solar cells was increased by 0.4% due to decreased series resistance. Finally we obtained the short-circuit current of 8.66 A, open-circuit voltage of 0.632 V, fill factor of 78.2%, and efficiency of 17.8% on a silicon solar cell.