A solar cell includes a substrate; a first passivation layer on a first surface of the substrate; a first field region on the first surface of the substrate; an anti-reflection layer on the first passivation layer; a second passivation layer on a second surface of the substrate; an emitter region on the second passivation layer, the emitter region forming a p-n junction and a hetero-junction junction with the substrate; a second field region on the second passivation layer, the second field region forming a hetero-junction with the substrate; a first electrode contacted to the emitter region; a second electrode contacted to the second field region; a spacing between the emitter region and the second field region; and a third passivation layer on the second surface of the substrate at the spacing.

The invention relates to a photoactive semiconductor component, especially a photovoltaic solar cell, having a semiconductor substrate, a carbon-containing SiC layer disposed indirectly upon a surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a passivating intermediate layer disposed indirectly or directly between the SiC layer and semiconductor substrate, and a metallic contact connection disposed indirectly or directly upon a side of the SiC layer facing away from the passivating intermediate layer and in electrically conductive connection with the SiC layer, where the SiC layer has p-type or n-type doping, which is characterized in that the SiC layer partly has a partly amorphous structure and partly has a crystalline structure.

A back-contact Si thin-film solar cell includes a crystalline Si absorber layer and an emitter layer arranged on the crystalline Si absorber layer, which include a contact system being arranged on the back so as to collect excess charge carriers generated by the incidence of light in the absorber layer; a barrier layer having a layer thickness in a range of from 50 nm to 1 m formed on a glass substrate; at least one coating layer intended for optical coating and thin layer containing silicon and/or oxygen adjoining the crystalline Si absorber layer arranged on the at least one coating layer for improving the optical characteristics. The crystalline Si absorber layer can be produced by means of liquid-phase crystallization, is n-conducting, and has monocrystalline Si grains. An SiO2 passivation layer is formed between the layer containing silicon and/or oxygen and the Si absorber layer during the liquid-phase crystallization.

A silicon solar cell has doped amorphous silicon contacts formed on a tunnel silicon oxide layer on a surface of a silicon substrate. High temperature processing is unnecessary in fabricating the solar cell.

A solar cell can include a silicon layer formed over a silicon substrate. The silicon layer can have a P-type doped region and an N-type doped region. Portions of the silicon layer can have a grain size larger than other portions of the silicon layer. For example, larger grains of the silicon layer formed within a depletion region between P-type and N-type doped regions can minimize recombination loss at the P-type and N-type doped region boundaries and improve solar cell efficiency.

A method for manufacturing high efficiency solar cells is disclosed. The method comprises providing a thin dielectric layer and a doped polysilicon layer on the back side of a silicon substrate. Subsequently, a high quality oxide layer and a wide band gap doped semiconductor layer can both be formed on the back and front sides of the silicon substrate. A metallization process to plate metal fingers onto the doped polysilicon layer through contact openings can then be performed. The plated metal fingers can form a first metal gridline. A second metal gridline can be formed by directly plating metal to an emitter region on the back side of the silicon substrate, eliminating the need for contact openings for the second metal gridline. Among the advantages, the method for manufacture provides decreased thermal processes, decreased etching steps, increased efficiency and a simplified procedure for the manufacture of high efficiency solar cells.

A method of forming an electrode pattern includes: forming, on a base material, a seed layer having a pattern corresponding to the electrode pattern; forming an organic material layer on the seed layer; producing an electrode layer transfer sheet by forming an electrode layer on the organic material layer via an electroplating process using the seed layer as a seed; disposing the electrode layer transfer sheet on a substrate on which the electrode pattern is to be formed such that the electrode layer is in contact with the substrate and pressure bonding the electrode layer to the substrate; and in a state in which the electrode layer is pressure bonded to the substrate, removing the base material along with the organic material layer and the seed layer to transfer the electrode layer to the substrate.

A method for manufacturing a solar cell may include forming a textured structure including multiple convex parts by etching a crystalline silicon substrate with etching liquid and forming an amorphous silicon layer on the crystalline silicon substrate with the textured structure formed thereon, by chemical vapor deposition or sputtering. An alkaline solution including at least one of a solution of sodium hydroxide and a solution of potassium hydroxide, additive including at least one of 4-propylbenzoic acid, 4-t-butylbenzoic acid, 4-n-butylbenzoic acid, 4-pentylbenzoic acid, 4-butoxybenzonic acid, 4-n-octylbenzenesulfonic acid, caprylic acid, and lauric acid may be added to the etching liquid. The textured structure may a chamfered section between main sloped surfaces of the convex parts, and a sharp trough part which is sandwiched by adjacent multiple convex parts.

A device and method of making an amorphous-silicon/inorganic thin film tandem solar cell including the steps of depositing a textured oxide buffer layer on an amorphous substrate, depositing a crystalline inorganic semiconductor film from a eutectic alloy on the buffer layer, and depositing an amorphous film on the crystalline inorganic film, the amorphous film forming a p-n junction with the crystalline inorganic semiconductor for a solar cell device.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a double-sided heterojunction solar cell module. The solar cell includes a frontside glass cover, a backside glass cover situated below the frontside glass cover, and a number of solar cells situated between the frontside glass cover and the backside glass cover. Each solar cell includes a semiconductor multilayer structure situated below the frontside glass cover, including: a frontside electrode grid, a first layer of heavily doped amorphous Si (a-Si) situated below the frontside electrode, a layer of lightly doped crystalline-Si (c-Si) situated below the first layer of heavily doped a-Si, and a layer of heavily doped c-Si situated below the lightly doped c-Si layer. The solar cell also includes a second layer of heavily doped a-Si situated below the multilayer structure; and a backside electrode situated below the second layer of heavily doped a-Si.