The present invention discloses a back contact solar cell comprising: a first conductive type semiconductor substrate having a front surface and a rear surface of a texturing structure; an oxide layer formed on the front surface of the substrate; at least one first conductive type semiconductor region and second conductive type semiconductor region alternatively formed at predetermined intervals on the rear surface of the substrate; an oxide layer formed on the remaining rear surface of the substrate except for the first conductive type semiconductor region and the second conductive type semiconductor region; and electrodes formed on each of the first conductive type semiconductor region and the second conductive type semiconductor region.

A solar cell includes: a substrate having front and back surfaces opposite to each other, the back surface includes first regions, second regions and gap regions, the first regions and the second regions are staggered and spaced from each other in a first direction, and each gap region is provided between one first region and one adjacent second region; a first conductive layer formed over the first region; a second conductive layer formed over the second region, the second conductive layer has a conductivity type opposite to the first conductive layer; a first electrode forming electrical contact with the first conductive layer; a second electrode forming electrical contact with the second conductive layer; and first pyramidal texture structures formed on the back surface corresponding to the gap regions. A curved interface region is formed between side wall of the first/second conductive layer and side wall of the adjacent gap region.

One embodiment relates to a method of fabricating a solar cell. A silicon lamina is cleaved from the silicon substrate. The backside of the silicon lamina includes the P-type and N-type doped regions. A metal foil is attached to the backside of the silicon lamina. The metal foil may be used advantageously as a built-in carrier for handling the silicon lamina during processing of a frontside of the silicon lamina. Another embodiment relates to a solar cell that includes a silicon lamina having P-type and N-type doped regions on the backside. A metal foil is adhered to the backside of the lamina, and there are contacts formed between the metal foil and the doped regions. Other embodiments, aspects and features are also disclosed.

Provided is a solar cell including, on a first main surface of a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type, a base layer which has the first conductivity type, and an emitter layer which is adjacent to the base layer and has a second conductivity type which is a conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, and further including a base collecting electrode provided on at least the base layer, and a part of the base collecting electrode is also arranged on the emitter layer adjacent to the base layer on which the base collecting electrode is arranged. Consequently, the inexpensive solar cell having high photoelectric conversion efficiency can be provided.

A solar cell having, on a semiconductor substrate's first main surface a first conductivity type, a base layer having first conductivity type and an emitter layer which is adjacent to base layer and has a second conductivity type which is a conductivity type opposite to first conductivity type, the solar cell includes: a base electrode which is electrically connected with base layer; and an emitter electrode which is electrically connected with emitter layer, solar cell including: dielectric films which are in contact with base and emitter layer on first main surface; first insulator films which cover the emitter electrode, are placed on the dielectric films, and are arranged to have a gap at least on base layer; and a base bus bar electrode placed at least on first insulator films, and being wherein gap distance between the first insulator films is 40 μm or more and (W+110) μm or less.

A photovoltaic device (10) includes: a p-type diffusion region (11) and an n-type diffusion region (12) on the backside of a semiconductor substrate (1); electrodes (4, 5); and a wiring board (8). The electrodes (4) are disposed on the p-type diffusion region (11), and the electrodes (5) are disposed on the n-type diffusion region (12). The wiring board (8) includes a wire group (82) connected to the electrodes (4, 6) by conductive adhesion layers (7) and a wire group (83) connected to the electrodes (5) by conductive adhesion layers (7). The photovoltaic device (10) includes at least one of a first structure in which a plurality of electrodes (50) includes at least a pair of adjacent electrodes connected to a single wire and a second structure in which a plurality of electrodes (40) includes at least a pair of adjacent electrodes connected to a single wire.

Aligned metallization approaches for fabricating solar cells, and the resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a solar cell includes a semiconductor layer over a semiconductor substrate. A first plurality of discrete openings is in the semiconductor layer and exposes corresponding discrete portions of the semiconductor substrate. A plurality of doped regions is in the semiconductor substrate and corresponds to the first plurality of discrete openings. An insulating layer is over the semiconductor layer and is in the first plurality of discrete openings. A second plurality of discrete openings is in the insulating layer and exposes corresponding portions of the plurality of doped regions. Each one of the second plurality of discrete openings is entirely within a perimeter of a corresponding one of the first plurality of discrete openings. A plurality of conductive contacts is in the second plurality of discrete openings and is on the plurality of doped regions.

A solar cell is disclosed. The solar cell has a front side facing the sun during normal operation, and a back side facing away from the sun. The solar cell comprises a silicon substrate, a first polysilicon layer with a region of doped polysilicon on the back side of the substrate. The solar cell also comprises a second polysilicon layer with a second region of doped polysilicon on the back side of the silicon substrate. The second polysilicon layer at least partially covers the region of doped polysilicon. The solar cell also comprises a resistive region disposed in the first polysilicon layer. The resistive region extends from an edge of the second region of doped polysilicon. The resistive region can be formed by ion implantation of oxygen into the first polysilicon layer.

A method for concurrently forming a first metal electrode (31, 58) on an n-type region of a silicon substrate (10) and a second metal electrode (32, 59) on a p-type region of the silicon substrate, wherein the n-type region and the p-type region are respectively exposed in a first and in a second area, is disclosed. The method comprises: depositing (101) an initial metal layer comprising Ni (33, 53) simultaneously in the first area and in the second area by a Ni immersion plating process using a plating solution; and depositing (102) a further metal layer (34, 54) on the initial metal layer comprising Ni (33, 53) in the first area and in the second area by an electroless metal plating process or by an immersion metal plating process, wherein the plating solution comprises Ni and a predetermined amount of another metal different from Ni.

A method for concurrently forming a first metal electrode (31, 58) on an n-type region of a silicon substrate (10) and a second metal electrode (32, 59) on a p-type region of the silicon substrate, wherein the n-type region and the p-type region are respectively exposed in a first and in a second area, is disclosed. The method comprises: depositing (101) an initial metal layer comprising Ni (33, 53) simultaneously in the first area and in the second area by a Ni immersion plating process using a plating solution; and depositing (102) a further metal layer (34, 54) on the initial metal layer comprising Ni (33, 53) in the first area and in the second area by an electroless metal plating process or by an immersion metal plating process, wherein the plating solution comprises Ni and a predetermined amount of another metal different from Ni.