Surface modification for efficiency improvement of inline solar cell manufacture
article
Inline processing, one of the fastest-growing production processes for crystalline silicon solar cells, uses continuously operated belt furnaces to achieve higher overall throughput compared with traditional batch processing. A second, major advantage of inline processing is improved manufacturing yields through reduced breakage of todays thinner, increasingly delicate wafers. This is accomplished by eliminating several handling steps unique to batch processing techniques. This paper describes the influence of ECN-Clean, as developed by Mallinckrodt Baker and ECN in 2006, whose application increases the efficiency of solar cells produced using inline processing by approximately 0.3 percent absolute, compared with standard inline processing. The increase is achieved by using a wet chemical surface modifier after emitter formation. Additionally, experimental data is presented on establishing a stable process on an industrial scale, prior to optimization of the line for cell efficiency.
TNO Identifier
846243
Publisher
ECN
Collation
5 p.
Place of publication
Petten
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