Disclosed is a solar cell including a semiconductor substrate having a first surface and a second surface that is opposite the first surface, each of which includes a first edge area, a second edge area, and a cell area located between the first and second edge areas, a first passivation layer formed on the cell area of the first surface of the semiconductor substrate, a first conductive semiconductor layer disposed on the first passivation layer, and a first electrode disposed on the first conductive semiconductor layer. The first edge area of the first surface of the semiconductor substrate is exposed.

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing a solar cell. The method includes: forming a first tunneling layer on one surface of a semiconductor substrate; forming a first conductive region on the first tunneling layer so that the first conductive region includes a metal oxide layer having an amorphous structure; and forming a first electrode electrically connected to the first conductive region.

A solar cell includes a p-type impurity diffusion layer formed on one side of an n-type single-crystal silicon substrate, an n-type impurity diffusion layer formed on the opposite side of the substrate with an n-type impurity element at a higher concentration than the substrate, and having a first layer with an n-type impurity element diffused at a first concentration, and a second layer with an n-type impurity element diffused at a second concentration lower than the first concentration, on-p-type-impurity-diffusion-layer electrodes formed on the p-type impurity diffusion layer, and on-n-type-impurity-diffusion-layer electrodes formed on the first layer. The concentration of the n-type impurity element at a surface of the first layer is between 510.sup.20 atoms/cm.sup.3 and 210.sup.21 atoms/cm.sup.3 inclusive, and the concentration of the n-type impurity element at a surface of the second layer is between 510.sup.19 atoms/cm.sup.3 and 210.sup.20 atoms/cm.sup.3 inclusive.

A solar cell employing nanocrystalline superlattice material and amorphous structure and method of constructing the same provides improved efficiency when converting sunlight to power. The photovoltaic (PV) solar cell includes an intrinsic superlattice material deposited between the p-doped layer and the n-doped layer. The superlattice material is comprised of a plurality of sublayers which effectively create a graded band gap and multi-band gap for the superlattice material. The sublayers can include a nanocrystalline Si:H layer, an amorphous SiGe:H layer and an amorphous SiC:H layer. Varying the thickness of each layer results in an effective energy gap that is graded as desired for improved efficiency. Methods of constructing single junction and parallel configured two junction solar cells include depositing the various layers on a substrate such as stainless steel or glass.

A solar cell and a method for manufacturing the same are discussed. The solar cell includes a substrate containing impurities of a first conductive type, an emitter region which is positioned at a front surface of the substrate and contains impurities of a second conductive type opposite the first conductive type, a back passivation layer which is positioned on a back surface of the substrate and has openings, a back surface field region containing impurities of the first conductive type, a first electrode connected to the emitter region, and a second electrode connected to the back surface field region. The back surface field region includes a first back surface field region positioned on the back passivation layer and a second back surface field region, which is positioned at the back surface of the substrate exposed by the openings of the back passivation layer.

Disclosed is a solar cell including a control passivation film on one surface of a semiconductor substrate, and being formed of a dielectric material; and a semiconductor layer on the control passivation film, wherein the semiconductor layer including a first conductive region having a first conductive type and a second conductive region having a second conductive type opposite to the first conductive type. The semiconductor substrate includes a diffusion region including at least one of a first diffusion region and a second diffusion region adjacent to the control passivation film, wherein the first diffusion region being locally formed to correspond to the first conductive region and having a doping concentration lower than a doping concentration of the first conductive region, wherein the second diffusion region being locally formed to correspond to the second conductive region and having a doping concentration lower than a doping concentration of the second conductive region.

A method of spray deposition for inorganic nanocrystal solar cells comprising subjecting a first solution of CdTe or CdSe nanocrystals to ligand exchange with a small coordinating molecule, diluting the first solution in solvent to form a second solution, applying the second solution to a substrate, drying the substrate, dipping the substrate in a solution in MeOH of a compound that promotes sintering, washing the substrate with iPrOH, drying the substrate with N.sub.2, and heating and forming a film on the substrate. An inorganic nanocrystal solar cell comprising a substrate, a layer of metal, a layer of CdTe, a layer of CdSe, and a layer of transparent conductor. An inorganic nanocrystal solar cell comprising a transparent conductive substrate, a layer of CdSe, a layer of CdTe, and a Au contact.

To provide a solar cell that reduces occurrence of a defect and has high photoelectric conversion efficiency. The solar cell includes a silicon substrate such as an n-type single-crystal silicon substrate single crystal with pyramid-shaped irregularities P formed thereon, and an amorphous or microcrystal semiconductor layer formed on the single-crystal silicon substrate. A flat part F is formed in a valley portion of the pyramid-shaped irregularities P provided on a surface of the single-crystal silicon substrate. With this configuration, a steep angle of 70 to 85 of a concave portion formed by a substantially (111) surface can be widened to between 115 and 135. Accordingly, a change of atomic step morphology attributable to a rounded shape can be eliminated, thereby enabling to reduce epitaxial growth and defects in the amorphous or microcrystal semiconductor layer.

The thin-film photoelectric conversion device of the present invention includes: a transparent electroconductive film having zinc oxide as a main component; a contact layer; a photoelectric conversion unit having a p-type semiconductor layer, an i-type semiconductor layer and an n-type semiconductor layer in this order; and a back electrode layer, in this order, on one main surface of a substrate. The contact layer has an intrinsic crystalline semiconductor layer and a p-type crystalline semiconductor layer in this order from the substrate side, and the intrinsic crystalline semiconductor layer of the contact layer and the transparent electroconductive film are in contact with each other. The p-type crystalline semiconductor layer of the contact layer is preferably a layer having as a main component a silicon alloy selected from the group consisting of a silicon oxide; a silicon nitride; and silicon carbide.