STACKED MULTI-JUNCTION SOLAR CELL

Abstract

A stacked multi-junction solar cell with a front side contacted through the rear side and having a solar cell stack having a Ge substrate layer, a Ge subcell, and at least two III-V subcells, with a through contact opening, a front terminal contact, a rear terminal contact, an antireflection layer formed on a part of the front side of the multi-junction solar cell, a dielectric insulating layer, and a contact layer. The dielectric insulating layer covers the antireflection layer, an edge region of a top of the front terminal contact, a lateral surface of the through contact opening, and a region of the rear side of the solar cell stack adjacent to the through contact opening. The contact layer from a region of the top of the front terminal contact that is not covered by the dielectric insulating layer through the through contact opening to the rear side.

Claims

1. A stacked multi-junction solar cell with a front side contacted through the rear side, the solar cell comprising: a solar cell stack with a front side, a rear side, and a through contact opening extending from the front side to the rear side of the solar cell stack; a front terminal contact; a rear terminal contact; a dielectric insulating layer; and a contact layer, wherein the solar cell stack has a germanium substrate layer forming the rear side, a germanium subcell, and at least two III-V subcells, the germanium subcell being formed between the germanium substrate layer and the at least two III-V subcells, wherein the through contact opening has a continuous lateral surface and an oval perimeter in cross section, wherein the front terminal contact is arranged on the front side of the solar cell stack and is connected to the front side of the solar cell stack in an integral and electrically conductive manner, wherein the dielectric insulating layer covers a region of the front side of the solar cell stack that is not covered by the front terminal contact, an edge region of a top of the front terminal contact, the lateral surface of the through contact opening, and a region of the rear side of the solar cell stack adjacent to the through contact opening, wherein the contact layer extends on the dielectric insulating layer from a region of the top of the front terminal contact that is not covered by the dielectric insulating layer through the through contact opening to the rear side of the solar cell stack, is connected to the top of the front terminal contact in an integral and electrically conductive manner, and is connected to the dielectric insulating layer in an integral manner, and wherein the rear terminal contact covers a region of the rear side of the solar cell stack that is not covered by the dielectric insulating layer, and is connected to the rear side of the solar cell stack in an integral and electrically conductive manner.

2. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the dielectric insulating layer an antireflection layer.

3. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the multi-junction solar cell has an antireflection layer arranged between the dielectric insulating layer and the solar cell stack, wherein the antireflection layer covers the region of the front side of the solar cell stack that is not covered by the front terminal.

4. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 3, wherein the antireflection layer covers an edge region of the top of the front terminal contact.

5. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 3, wherein the antireflection layer is electrically conductive.

6. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the dielectric insulating layer has TiO and/or MgF.sub.2 and/or Al.sub.2O.sub.3 and/or SiO.sub.2 and/or Si.sub.3N.sub.4 and/or Ta.sub.2O.sub.5 and/or ZrO.sub.2.

7. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the front terminal contact has a highly doped semiconductor contact layer that is connected in an integral manner to the front side of the solar cell stack, and a metal layer that is connected in an integral manner to the semiconductor contact layer.

8. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the III-V subcells have a joint layer thickness of 5 to 15 μm.

9. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the through contact opening has a first diameter of at least 50 μm at the front side of the multi-junction solar cell, and wherein the first diameter is not greater than 1 mm.

10. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the through contact opening decreases in steps from the front side to the rear side of the multi-junction solar cell, wherein a first step is formed from a top of the Ge subcell and a second step is formed from a region of the germanium subcell located below a p-n junction of the germanium subcell and each step projects into the through contact opening with one step height over the full perimeter.

11. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 5, wherein the step height of the first step is at least 5 μm and/or the step height of the second step is at least 6 μm.

12. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the germanium subcell has, together with the germanium substrate, a layer thickness of 80 to 300 μm.

13. The stacked multi-junction solar cell according to claim 1, wherein the contact layer is a multilayer system comprising, in the stated order, a first layer that includes gold and germanium with a layer thickness of at least 2 nm and at most 50 nm, a second layer that includes titanium with a layer thickness of at least 10 nm and at most 300 nm, a third layer that includes palladium or nickel or platinum with a layer thickness of at least 5 nm and at most 300 nm, and at least one metallic fourth layer with a layer thickness of at least 2 μm, wherein the first layer is adjacent to the dielectric insulating layer and to the front terminal contact.

14. A method of producing a stacked multi-junction solar cell with a front side contacted through the rear side, the method comprising: providing a semiconductor wafer having a top, a bottom, and at least two solar cell stacks, each of the at least two solar cell stacks has a Ge substrate that forms the bottom of the semiconductor wafer, a Ge subcell, and at least two III-V subcells; applying a front terminal contact to the top of the semiconductor wafer for each of the two solar cell stacks; forming a trench that has a continuous lateral wall and an oval perimeter in cross section and extends into the semiconductor wafer from the top of the semiconductor wafer and at least beyond a p-n junction of the Ge subcell at a distance from the front terminal contact for the two solar cell stacks; producing a through hole extending from a bottom of the trench to the bottom of the semiconductor wafer and having a continuous lateral wall and an oval perimeter in cross section for each of the two solar cell stacks; applying a dielectric insulating layer to the front side of the semiconductor wafer, to the rear side of the semiconductor wafer, to the lateral wall of the trench, and to the lateral wall of the through hole; removing the insulating layer on a part of a top of the front terminal contact for each of the two solar cell stacks; applying a contact layer extending from the exposed top of the front terminal contact over the dielectric insulating layer through the trench and the through hole to a region of the rear side of the semiconductor wafer adjacent to the through hole and coated with the dielectric insulating layer for each solar cell stack, wherein for each of the two solar cell stacks, a rear terminal contact is arranged on the rear side of the semiconductor wafer at a point in time before the application of the dielectric layer, and the dielectric insulating layer on a part of a top of the rear terminal contact is removed at a point in time after the application of the dielectric insulating layer, or wherein, for each of the two solar cell stacks, the dielectric insulating layer is removed from a section of the surface of the rear side of the semiconductor wafer at a point in time after the application of the dielectric insulating layer, and a rear terminal contact is applied to the exposed surface section of the rear side of the semiconductor wafer at a subsequent point in time.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, prior to production of the trench, an antireflection layer is applied to a part of the top of the semiconductor wafer that is not covered by the front terminal contacts, and after the removal of the insulating layer on a part of a top of the front terminal contact, the antireflection layer is removed from the part of the top of the front terminal contact.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein a first highly doped semiconductor contact layer is applied to the front side of the semiconductor wafer, and a metal layer is applied to a top of the highly doped semiconductor contact layer as the front terminal contact.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein the front terminal contact is applied via at least one mask process, or wherein the trench is formed by an etching process.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein the trench is formed by a laser ablation process.

19. The method according to claim 14, wherein the dielectric insulating layer is removed from the top of the front terminal contact and/or from the bottom of the semiconductor wafer via a laser ablation process or by an etching process.

20. The method according to claim 14, wherein the Ge substrate is thinned from the rear side of the semiconductor wafer after the production of the trench or after the production of the through hole.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0062] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

[0063] FIG. 1A is a cross section of an embodiment according to the invention of a stacked multi-junction solar cell with a front side contacted through the rear side,

[0064] FIG. 1B is a cross section of an embodiment according to the invention of the stacked multi-junction solar cell with the front side contacted through the rear side,

[0065] FIG. 1C is a cross section of an embodiment according to the invention of the stacked multi-junction solar cell with the front side contacted through the rear side,

[0066] FIG. 2 is a top view of an embodiment according to the invention of the multi-junction solar cell,

[0067] FIG. 3 is a rear side of an embodiment according to the invention of the multi-junction solar cell,

[0068] FIG. 4 is a top view of a semiconductor wafer comprising a multiplicity of stacked multi-junction solar cells,

[0069] FIG. 5 is a sequence of a production method in accordance with an embodiment according to the invention, and

[0070] FIG. 6 shows additional method steps of a production method in accordance with an embodiment according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0071] The illustration in FIG. 1 shows a detail in a cross section of a first embodiment according to the invention of a stacked multi-junction solar cell 1 with a front side contacted through the rear side.

[0072] The stacked multi-junction solar cell has a solar cell stack 10 with a front side 10.1, a rear side 10.2, and a through contact opening 12 extending from the front side 10.1 to the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack 10. The solar cell stack 10 has, following one another in the stated order, a germanium substrate layer 14 forming the rear side 10.2, a germanium subcell 16, and two III-V subcells 18 and 20. The through contact opening 12 has a continuous lateral surface 12.1 and an oval perimeter in cross section.

[0073] In addition, the stacked multi-junction solar cell has a front terminal contact 26, a rear terminal contact 34, a dielectric insulating layer 30, and a contact layer 32.

[0074] The front terminal contact 26 is formed of a highly doped semiconductor contact layer 26.1, which is arranged on a region of the front side 10.1 of the solar cell stack 10 and is connected in an integral manner to the front side 10.1 of the solar cell stack 10, and a metal layer 26.2, which is connected in an integral manner to the semiconductor contact layer 26.1.

[0075] The rear terminal contact 34 covers a region of the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack 10, and is connected in an integral manner to the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack 10 in the covered region.

[0076] The dielectric insulating layer 30 covers a region of the front side 10.1 of the solar cell stack 10 that is not covered by the front terminal 26, an edge region of a top of the front terminal contact 26, the lateral surface 12.1 of the through contact opening 12, and a region of the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack 10 adjacent to the through contact opening 12, so that, in a projection perpendicular to the front side 10.1 of the solar cell stack, only a central region of the front terminal contact 26 is not covered by the insulating layer 30. In a projection perpendicular to the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack, the insulating layer 30 surrounds the through contact opening and extends at most to the rear terminal contact 34.

[0077] The contact layer 32 extends on the dielectric insulating layer 30 from a region of the top of the front terminal contact 26 that is not covered by the dielectric insulating layer 30 through the through contact opening 12 to the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack 10, and in this way allows contact to be made with the front terminal contact 26 on the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack. The contact layer 32 is connected in an integral and electrically conductive manner to the top of the front terminal contact 26 and in an integral manner to the dielectric insulating layer 30.

[0078] The dielectric insulating layer 30 can be implemented as an antireflection layer, which is to say the insulating layer 30 has dielectric or electrically insulating materials and a structure that suppresses reflections.

[0079] In the illustration in FIG. 1B, a cross section of an alternative embodiment of a stacked multi-junction solar cell 1 is shown, wherein only the differences from the illustration in FIG. 1A are explained below.

[0080] The multi-junction solar cell 1 has an antireflection layer 28, wherein the antireflection layer 28 is arranged between the solar cell stack 10 and the dielectric insulating layer 30.

[0081] The antireflection layer 28 covers a region of the front side 10.1 of the solar cell stack 10 that is not covered by the front terminal 26 and the edge region of the front terminal contact 26, and extends to an edge of the through contact opening 12. The dielectric insulating layer 30 covers the antireflection layer 28 completely in the exemplary embodiment shown.

[0082] In the illustration in FIG. 1C, a cross section of another alternative embodiment of a stacked multi-junction solar cell 1 is shown, wherein only the differences from the illustrations in FIGS. 1A and 1B are explained below.

[0083] The antireflection layer 28 covers the front side 10.1 of the solar cell stack 10 and is adjacent to the front terminal contact 26, so that, in a projection perpendicular to the front side 10.1 of the solar cell stack, the antireflection layer surrounds the front terminal contact and extends to an edge of the through contact opening 12.

[0084] In the illustration in FIG. 2, a top view of an embodiment according to the invention of a stacked multi-junction solar cell 1 is shown. Only the differences from the illustration in FIG. 1 are explained below.

[0085] The stacked multi-junction solar cell 1 has two through contact openings 12, two front terminal contacts 26, and a front contact structure 26.3 with a land connecting the two front terminal contacts 26 and multiple contact fingers proceeding from the land. It is a matter of course that only one or more than two through contact openings can also be implemented.

[0086] The contact layer 32 covers a surface region adjacent to each of the through contact openings 12 and extends in each case to an exposed middle region of the front terminal contacts 26.

[0087] A remaining region of the front side 10.1, in particular including the front contact structure 26.3, is covered by the dielectric insulating layer 30.

[0088] In the illustration in FIG. 3, a top view of an embodiment according to the invention of a stacked multi-junction solar cell 1 is shown. Only the differences from the illustrations in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are explained below.

[0089] On the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack, a region of the rear side 10.2 adjacent to the two through contact openings 12 is surrounded by the contact layer 32. A region of the rear side 10.2, which surrounds the two through contact openings 12 and the edge regions covered by the contact layer 32, is covered by the dielectric insulating layer 30. A remaining region of the surface of the rear side 10.2 of the solar cell stack 1 is covered by the rear terminal contact 34.

[0090] In the illustration in FIG. 4, a top view of an embodiment according to the invention of a semiconductor wafer 100 comprising multiple stacked multi-junction solar cells 1 is shown. Only the differences from the illustration in FIG. 1 are explained below.

[0091] The semiconductor wafer 100 includes multiple solar cell stacks 1 that have not yet been diced, so that the rear sides 10.2 of the individual solar cell stacks 1 each form a part of a bottom of the semiconductor wafer 100, and the tops 10.1 of the individual solar cell stacks 1 each form a part of a top of the semiconductor wafer 100.

[0092] In the illustration in FIG. 5, a first embodiment according to the invention of a sequence of a production method for a stacked multi-junction solar cell 1 is shown.

[0093] In a first method step, a semiconductor wafer 100 having a top 100.1 and a bottom 100.2 is provided, wherein the semiconductor wafer 100 comprises multiple solar cell stacks 10, and each solar cell stack 10 has a Ge substrate 14 that forms the bottom 100.2 of the semiconductor wafer 100, a Ge subcell 16, and two III-V subcells 18 and 20, following one another in the stated order.

[0094] In a second method step, one front terminal contact 26 and one front contact structure 26.3 for each solar cell stack 10 are applied to the top 100.1 of the semiconductor wafer 100, for example by means of a mask process.

[0095] In addition, an antireflection layer 28 is applied to a part of the top 100.1 of the semiconductor wafer 100 that is not covered by the front terminal contacts 26 and is not covered by the front contact structure 26.3, for example by means of a mask process simultaneously for all solar cell stacks of the semiconductor wafer 100.

[0096] Next, in a third method step, a trench 40, which has a continuous lateral wall and an oval perimeter in cross section and extends into the semiconductor wafer from a top of the antireflection layer 28 at least beyond a p-n junction of the Ge subcell, is produced at a distance from the front terminal contact 26 for each solar cell stack 10, for example by means of an etching process simultaneously for all solar cell stacks of the semiconductor wafer 100 or by means of laser ablation simultaneously for all or some of the solar cell stacks or sequentially for the individual solar cell stacks.

[0097] In a fourth method step, a through hole 42 extending from a bottom of the trench 40 to the bottom 100.2 of the semiconductor wafer 100 and having a continuous lateral wall and a perimeter 12 that is oval in cross section is produced simultaneously or sequentially for each solar cell stack 10, for example likewise by means of an etching process or by means of laser ablation.

[0098] In a fifth method step, a dielectric insulating layer 30 is applied along the front side 100.1 of the semiconductor wafer 100, the rear side 100.2 of the semiconductor wafer, and to the lateral wall of each trench 40 as well as the lateral wall of each through hole 42, for example by means of PECVD.

[0099] In a sixth method step, the insulating layer 30 is removed on a part of a top of each front terminal contact 26 and from a region of the bottom 100.2 spaced apart from the through hole 42 in each case for each solar cell stack. In one embodiment, the ARC can also be removed therewith in the sixth method step.

[0100] In a seventh method step, a contact layer extending from the exposed top of the front terminal contact 26 over the dielectric insulating layer 30 through the trench 40 and the through hole 42 to a region of the rear side 100.2 of the semiconductor wafer 100 adjacent to the through hole 42 and coated with the dielectric insulating layer 30 is applied for each solar cell stack 10. In addition, a rear terminal contact 34 for each solar cell stack is arranged on the region of the rear side 100.2 of the semiconductor wafer 100 exposed through removal of the dielectric insulating layer 30.

[0101] In the illustration in FIG. 6, an embodiment of the production method according to the invention for a stacked multi-junction solar cell 1 is shown. Only the differences from the illustration in FIG. 5 are explained below.

[0102] As part of the third method step, which is to say before, after, or during the arrangement of the front contact terminal 26 and/or the production of the trench 40, the rear terminal contact 34 is arranged on a region of the rear side 100.2 of the semiconductor wafer 100 spaced apart from the through hole 42 to be produced later.

[0103] In a fifth method step, the dielectric insulating layer 30 is also applied to a top of the rear terminal contact 34, and as part of the sixth method step is removed again from a region of the top of the rear terminal contact 34.

[0104] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.