17% efficient thin film silicon solar cell by liquid phase epitaxy

Abstract

Thin film silicon solar cells are attracting considerable interest as a possible means of achieving low cost while maintaining moderate to high cell efficiencies. In this paper we report on the results of our work to fabricate high efficiency cells on single crystal epitaxial layers. We use liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) to grow epitaxial layers of 30-50μm thickness on heavily doped CZ substrates. Solar cells fabricated on these layers have displayed efficiencies up to 17.0%. A key factor in obtaining these high efficiencies is the incorporation of effective light trapping into the cell structure. This is achieved by removing most of the substrate after cell processing. Show more