A photovoltaic cell may include a hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer including a n-type doped region and a p-type doped region. The n-type doped region may be separated from the p-type doped region by an intrinsic region. The photovoltaic cell may include a front transparent electrode connected to the n-type doped region, and a rear electrode connected to the p-type doped region. The efficiency may be optimized for indoor lighting values by tuning the value of the H2/SiH4 ratio of the hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer.

Disclosed are embodiments of a thin-film photovoltaic technology including a single-junction crystalline silicon solar cell with a photonic-plasmonic back-reflector structure for lightweight, flexible energy conversion applications. The back-reflector enables high absorption for long-wavelength and near-infrared photons via diffraction and light-concentration, implemented by periodic texturing of the bottom-contact layer by nanoimprint lithography. The thin-film crystalline silicon solar cell is implemented in a heterojunction design with amorphous silicon, where plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is used for all device layers, including a low-temperature crystalline silicon deposition step. Excimer laser crystallization is used to integrate crystalline and amorphous silicon within a monolithic process, where a thin layer of amorphous silicon is converted to a crystalline silicon seed layer prior to deposition of a crystalline silicon absorber layer via PECVD. The crystalline nature of the absorber layer and the back-reflector enable efficiencies higher than what is achievable in other thin-film silicon devices.

An N-type double-sided solar cell preparation method comprises: sequentially forming a front aluminum oxide passivation layer and a front silicon nitride anti-reflection layer on a front face of an N-type silicon wafer. The front aluminum oxide passivation layer is prepared by using a plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition method, and the deposition conditions thereof involve: any frequency in the frequency range of 40 kHz to 400 kHz is selected to be a radio-frequency power supply frequency, a gaseous aluminum source is first introduced into a plasma apparatus in a vacuum state, such that a layer of aluminum source molecules is adsorbed on the surface of the silicon wafer, and a gaseous oxygen source is then introduced, such that the oxygen source is ionized into plasma and reacts with the aluminum source to obtain aluminum oxide.

A photovoltaic device includes a crystalline substrate having a first dopant conductivity, an interdigitated back contact and a front surface field structure. The front surface field structure includes a crystalline layer formed on the substrate and a noncrystalline layer formed on the crystalline layer. The crystalline layer and the noncrystalline layer are doped with dopants having an opposite dopant conductivity from that of the substrate. Methods are also disclosed.

A laser processing system can be utilized to produce high-performance interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cells. The laser processing system can be utilized to ablate, transfer material, and/or laser-dope or laser fire contacts. Laser ablation can be utilized to remove and pattern openings in a passivated or emitter layer. Laser transferring may then be utilized to transfer dopant and/or contact materials to the patterned openings, thereby forming an interdigitated finger pattern. The laser processing system may also be utilized to plate a conductive material on top of the transferred dopant or contact materials.

Photovoltaic devices and methods for fabricating a photovoltaic devices. The method includes applying a coating layer that surrounds each of a plurality of silicon particles. The method also includes implanting the plurality of silicon particles into a substrate layer such that an exposed portion of each of the plurality of silicon particles extends away from a surface of the substrate layer. The method further includes removing a portion of the coating layer that is positioned around the exposed portion of each of the plurality of silicon particles. The method also includes placing an insulator layer on the surface of the substrate layer. The method further includes placing a selective carrier transport layer on the exposed portion of each of the plurality of silicon particles.

Provided is a method and apparatus for depositing an amorphous silicon film. The method includes supplying a source gas and an atmospheric gas onto a substrate in a state where the substrate is loaded in a chamber to deposit the amorphous silicon film on the substrate. The atmospheric gas includes at least one of hydrogen and helium. The source gas includes at least one of silane (SiH.sub.2), disilane (Si.sub.2H.sub.6), and dichlorosilane (SiCl.sub.2H.sub.2).

Photodetector structures and methods of manufacture are provided. The method includes forming undercuts about detector material formed on a substrate. The method further includes encapsulating the detector to form airgaps from the undercuts. The method further includes annealing the detector material causing expansion of the detector material into the airgaps.

Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions with differentiated P-type and N-type regions architectures, and resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a back contact solar cell includes a substrate having a light-receiving surface and a back surface. A first polycrystalline silicon emitter region of a first conductivity type is disposed on a first thin dielectric layer disposed on the back surface of the substrate. A second polycrystalline silicon emitter region of a second, different, conductivity type is disposed on a second thin dielectric layer disposed on the back surface of the substrate. A third thin dielectric layer is disposed laterally directly between the first and second polycrystalline silicon emitter regions. A first conductive contact structure is disposed on the first polycrystalline silicon emitter region. A second conductive contact structure is disposed on the second polycrystalline silicon emitter region.

Discussed is a solar cell including a single crystalline semiconductor substrate having a first transparent conductive oxide layer positioned on a non-single crystalline emitter layer; a second transparent conductive oxide layer positioned over a rear surface of the single crystalline semiconductor substrate; a first electrode part including a first seed layer directly positioned on the first transparent conductive oxide layer; and a second electrode part including a second seed layer directly positioned on the second transparent conductive oxide layer, wherein the first transparent conductive oxide layer and the first seed layer have different conductivities, and wherein the second transparent conductive oxide layer and the second seed layer have different conductivities.