A solar cell element includes: a transparent body; a Mg.sub.xAg.sub.1-x layer (0.001x0.045) having a thickness (2-13 nm); a ZnO layer having an arithmetical mean (Ra: 20-870 nm); and a transparent conductive layer. A photoelectric conversion layer including n-type and p-type layers further includes n-side and p-side electrodes. The ZnO layer is composed of ZnO columnar crystal grains grown on the Mg.sub.xAg.sub.1-x layer, and each ZnO grain has a longitudinal direction along a normal line of the body, has a width increasing from the Mg.sub.xAg.sub.1-x layer toward the transparent conductive layer, has a width which appears by cutting each ZnO grain along the normal line, and has a R2/R1 ratio (1.1-1.8). R1 represents the width of one end of the ZnO grain, and the one end is in contact with the surface of the Mg.sub.xAg.sub.1-x layer, and R2 represents the width of the other end of the ZnO grain.

A method for producing, apparatus for producing and photovoltaic device including semiconductor layers with halide heat treated surfaces that increase grain growth within at least one of the semiconductor layers and improve the interface between the semiconductor layers. The halide heat treatment includes applying and heating multiple coatings of a halide compound on surfaces adjacent to or part of the semiconductor layers.

A multilayer anti-reflection structure for a backside contact solar cell. The anti-reflection structure may be formed on a front side of the backside contact solar cell. The anti-reflection structure may include a passivation level, a high optical absorption layer over the passivation level, and a low optical absorption layer over the high optical absorption layer. The passivation level may include silicon dioxide thermally grown on a textured surface of the solar cell substrate, which may be an N-type silicon substrate. The high optical absorption layer may be configured to block at least 10% of UV radiation coming into the substrate. The high optical absorption layer may comprise high-k silicon nitride and the low optical absorption layer may comprise low-k silicon nitride.

Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions using self-aligned implant and cap, and the resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a method of fabricating an emitter region of a solar cell involves forming a silicon layer above a substrate. The method also involves implanting, through a stencil mask, dopant impurity atoms in the silicon layer to form implanted regions of the silicon layer with adjacent non-implanted regions. The method also involves forming, through the stencil mask, a capping layer on and substantially in alignment with the implanted regions of the silicon layer. The method also involves removing the non-implanted regions of the silicon layer, wherein the capping layer protects the implanted regions of the silicon layer during the removing. The method also involves annealing the implanted regions of the silicon layer to form doped polycrystalline silicon emitter regions.

In one embodiment, harmful solar cell polarization is prevented or minimized by providing a conductive path that bleeds charge from a front side of a solar cell to the bulk of a wafer. The conductive path may include patterned holes in a dielectric passivation layer, a conductive anti-reflective coating, or layers of conductive material formed on the top or bottom surface of an anti-reflective coating, for example. Harmful solar cell polarization may also be prevented by biasing a region of a solar cell module on the front side of the solar cell.

A photovoltaic device and method include a doped germanium-containing substrate, an emitter contact coupled to the substrate on a first side and a back contact coupled to the substrate on a side opposite the first side. The emitter includes at least one doped layer of an opposite conductivity type as that of the substrate and the back contact includes at least one doped layer of the same conductivity type as that of the substrate. The at least one doped layer of the emitter contact or the at least one doped layer of the back contact is in direct contact with the substrate, and the at least one doped layer of the emitter contact or the back contact includes an n-type material having an electron affinity smaller than that of the substrate, or a p-type material having a hole affinity larger than that of the substrate.

A solar cell can include a substrate of a first conductive type; an emitter region which is positioned at a front surface of the substrate and has a second conductive type different from the first conductive type; a back surface field region which is positioned at a back surface opposite the front surface of the substrate; a front passivation region including a plurality of layers which are sequentially positioned on the emitter region; a back passivation region including a plurality of layers which are sequentially positioned on the back surface field region; a front electrode part which passes through the front passivation region and is connected to the emitter region, wherein the front electrode part comprises a plurality of front electrodes that are apart from each other and a front bus bar connecting the plurality of front electrodes; a back electrode part which passes through the back passivation region and is connected to the back surface field region, wherein the back electrode part comprises a plurality of back electrodes that are apart from each other and a back bus bar connecting the plurality of back electrodes, wherein the front passivation region includes a first aluminum oxide layer and the back passivation region includes a second aluminum oxide layer.

A solar cell and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The method for manufacturing the solar cell includes injecting impurities of a second conductive type opposite a first conductive type into an entire first surface of a semiconductor substrate containing impurities of the first conductive type, the semiconductor substrate having the first surface, a side surface, and a second surface opposite the first surface, forming a doping barrier layer on the entire first surface and the entire side surface of the semiconductor substrate, and at an edge portion of the second surface of the semiconductor substrate, injecting the impurities of the first conductive type into the second surface of the semiconductor substrate at which the doping barrier layer is not formed, at a higher concentration than the semiconductor substrate, performing a thermal process on the semiconductor substrate to simultaneously form an emitter region of the second conductive type at the entire first and side surfaces of the semiconductor substrate and a back surface field region of the first conductive type at the second surface of the semiconductor substrate, and removing the doping barrier layer.

Methods of hydrogenation of passivated contacts using materials having hydrogen impurities are provided. An example method includes applying, to a passivated contact, a layer of a material, the material containing hydrogen impurities. The method further includes subsequently annealing the material and subsequently removing the material from the passivated contact.

Disclosed is a vehicle roof panel formed as a multilayer laminate having an outer shield layer, one or more solar cell laminate layers, and an internal electrochromic layer. The shield layer and the one or more solar cell laminate layers are transparent. The roof panel also may have a user controllable electrical input connected to the electrochromic layer whereby the user can adjust an electrical input to the electrochromic layer there by controlling its transparency from greater than 70% transparent to non-transparent. In the roof panel the one or more solar cell laminate layers are located between the shield layer and the electrochromic layer. The roof panel provides a convenient way to charge the batteries of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles while allowing for user controllable dimming of the roof panel.