WO1996035235A1 - Solar cell having a thin film silicon multiple layer structure - Google Patents
Solar cell having a thin film silicon multiple layer structure Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO1996035235A1 WO1996035235A1 PCT/NL1996/000177 NL9600177W WO9635235A1 WO 1996035235 A1 WO1996035235 A1 WO 1996035235A1 NL 9600177 W NL9600177 W NL 9600177W WO 9635235 A1 WO9635235 A1 WO 9635235A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- solar cell
- layers
- cell according
- thin film
- type
- Prior art date
Links
- 229910052710 silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 title claims abstract description 20
- 239000010409 thin film Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 17
- XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicon Chemical compound [Si] XUIMIQQOPSSXEZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 title claims abstract description 13
- 239000010703 silicon Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 13
- 229910021417 amorphous silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims abstract description 35
- 239000004020 conductor Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 12
- 229910021419 crystalline silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims description 7
- 229910052739 hydrogen Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000001257 hydrogen Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Carbon Chemical compound [C] OKTJSMMVPCPJKN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052799 carbon Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- 229910052732 germanium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 2
- GNPVGFCGXDBREM-UHFFFAOYSA-N germanium atom Chemical compound [Ge] GNPVGFCGXDBREM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- 239000012535 impurity Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 125000004435 hydrogen atom Chemical class [H]* 0.000 claims 2
- 241001640034 Heteropterys Species 0.000 claims 1
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 description 6
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 4
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 4
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 description 3
- 239000000969 carrier Substances 0.000 description 3
- 238000000151 deposition Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000008021 deposition Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 2
- UFHFLCQGNIYNRP-UHFFFAOYSA-N Hydrogen Chemical compound [H][H] UFHFLCQGNIYNRP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000005275 alloying Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000002347 injection Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000007924 injection Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000031700 light absorption Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000001465 metallisation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910021424 microcrystalline silicon Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000009877 rendering Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005476 soldering Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000243 solution Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003595 spectral effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000001228 spectrum Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H10F—INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- H10F10/00—Individual photovoltaic cells, e.g. solar cells
- H10F10/10—Individual photovoltaic cells, e.g. solar cells having potential barriers
- H10F10/17—Photovoltaic cells having only PIN junction potential barriers
- H10F10/172—Photovoltaic cells having only PIN junction potential barriers comprising multiple PIN junctions, e.g. tandem cells
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H10F—INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- H10F19/00—Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one photovoltaic cell covered by group H10F10/00, e.g. photovoltaic modules
- H10F19/30—Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one photovoltaic cell covered by group H10F10/00, e.g. photovoltaic modules comprising thin-film photovoltaic cells
- H10F19/31—Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one photovoltaic cell covered by group H10F10/00, e.g. photovoltaic modules comprising thin-film photovoltaic cells having multiple laterally adjacent thin-film photovoltaic cells deposited on the same substrate
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H10F—INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- H10F19/00—Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one photovoltaic cell covered by group H10F10/00, e.g. photovoltaic modules
- H10F19/30—Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one photovoltaic cell covered by group H10F10/00, e.g. photovoltaic modules comprising thin-film photovoltaic cells
- H10F19/31—Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one photovoltaic cell covered by group H10F10/00, e.g. photovoltaic modules comprising thin-film photovoltaic cells having multiple laterally adjacent thin-film photovoltaic cells deposited on the same substrate
- H10F19/35—Structures for the connecting of adjacent photovoltaic cells, e.g. interconnections or insulating spacers
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H10F—INORGANIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES SENSITIVE TO INFRARED RADIATION, LIGHT, ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION OF SHORTER WAVELENGTH OR CORPUSCULAR RADIATION
- H10F77/00—Constructional details of devices covered by this subclass
- H10F77/20—Electrodes
- H10F77/206—Electrodes for devices having potential barriers
- H10F77/211—Electrodes for devices having potential barriers for photovoltaic cells
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
- Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy
- Y02E10/548—Amorphous silicon PV cells
Definitions
- the invention relates to a solar cell, comprising at least three substantially thin film parallel silicon layers, stacked upon each other, and at least two conductors providing an electrical contact with at least two of said layers, said conductors extending in a direction substantially transverse with respect to said layers.
- a solar cell of the above mentioned type has been disclosed in WO 93/12543, which teaches the deposition of thin film silicon layers from solution in molten metal or other known techniques onto supporting glass superstrate. These techniques imply the formation of thin films of crystalline silicon.
- the thin film layers comprise amorphous silicon (a-Si) .
- a solar cell according to the invention involves many advantages over the prior art crystalline silicon solar cell, in that its manufacturing by thin film depostion allows inter alia a wide area at a low material consumption, processing at low temperatures, p-n doping and alloying control during deposition, deposition on inexpensive substrates of different kind and shape, easy integrated manufacturing and mass production at low cost.
- the thickness of an amorphous silicon thin film solar cell according to the invention is an order of magnitude less than the thickness of a known device having a similar energy efficiency, but using crystalline silicon.
- the mechanical strength of the solar cell according to the invention is superior over the mechanical strength of the known solar cell.
- the thin film layers are provided by amorphous silicon of the p-type (p-Si) , intrinsic amorphous silicon (i-Si) and amorphous silicon of the n-type (n-Si) respectively, in the order given by the formula (I) : p-Si, (i-Si,n-Si,i-Si,p-Si) x ,i-Si,n-Si (I), where x is the number 0 or a natural number, preferably 0__x ⁇ _5, one of said conductors provides an electrical contact with each of said p-Si layers and the other of said conductors provides an electrical contact with each of said n-Si layers.
- the structure of this embodiment consists of multiple interleaved parallel layers, thus greatly increasing the collection probability for carriers generated by the absorption of light. If the spacings between the layer junctions are properly chosen, the collection probability for all generated carriers approaches unity.
- each a-Si layer is less than carrier collection length in said each layer.
- carrier injection between the layers will advantageously then result in sharing of current between the layers, as the multiple interleaved layers of n-Si and p- Si provide parallel paths for current conduction between contacts, thus reducing resistive losses.
- a certain amount of crystalline silicon of the p-type may be provided within a p- Si layer, and/or a certain amount of crystalline silicon of the n-type is provided within an n-Si layer.
- the amount of p-type and/or n-type crystalline silicon may just be as little to provide small areas of finite dimensions, comprising micro-crystalline silicon, or as much as to provide an intermediate layer of crystalline silicon within the respective amorphous layer.
- the a-Si is hydrogenated.
- a-Si:H Hydrogenated a-Si
- the spectral response in a-Si is superior over many other solar cell materials, whereas majority and minority carrier lifetimes have been found to be at least 10 ns. Therefore, a multiple layer a-Si solar cell yields a relatively high efficiency in comparison with prior art solar cells, without additional light trapping.
- the a-Si may be alloyed with a material selected from germanium (Ge) , carbon (C) and a combination of said materials.
- the a-Si layers may be intrinsic or doped with electrically or optically active impurities, chosen to optimize the response of the cell to the solar spectrum.
- An embodiment of a solar cell according to the invention comprises e.g. a substrate or a superstrate for the thin film silicon layers and a covering toplayer or bottomlayer respectively.
- Substrate or superstrate and toplayer or bottomlayer respectively may be provided in a way per se known, whereby at least the substrate or the superstrate, or respectively the toplayer or the bottomlayer is transparant, or whereby substrate and toplayer or superstrate and bottomlayer respectively are both transparant.
- n-type busbar for one cell By making an n-type busbar for one cell very close to a p- type busbar groove for an adjacent cell, two regions can be linked during metallization. This provides automatic series interconnection of adjacent a-Si cells, eliminating interconnects and subsequent soldering other than the output leads. Two adjacent grooves may actually overlap, forming one wider groove with side walls oppositely doped. In this case, filling the groove with metal again automatically provides the series connection.
- Fig. 1 shows a schematic cross section of a first embodiment of an a-Si:H multilayer solar cell according to the invention
- Fig. 2 shows a schematic cross section of a second embodiment of an a-Si:H multilayer solar cell according to the invention.
- Fig.l shows a multiple solar cell 1, comprising interleaved parallel layers 2,3,4 of intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-Si), each said layer 2,3,4 being bound by a layer 5,6 of hydrogenated amorphous n-type silicon (n- Si) and a layer 7,8 of hydrogenated amorphous p-type silicon (p-Si) .
- i-Si intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon
- p-Si hydrogenated amorphous p-type silicon
- Carriers generated by incident light in the intrinsic layers 2-3 drift towards the the n-Si layers 5,6 or the p-Si layers 7,8 respectively, depending on their sign, and are transported via the respective layers 5-8 towards the metal contacts 13,14, which thus can provide a photo-current to a circuit connected (not shown) .
- the solar cell 1 has been extended in the direction of the layers in a repeating pattern, such as to provide upon a single substrate (not shown) a multiple solar cell, the contacts of which are electrically connected in series.
- the solar cell 1 may easily be extended in a direction transverse with respect to the layers by repeating the sequence of four consecutively stacked layers of amorphous silicon.
- Fig. 2 shows another embodiment of a multiple solar cell 21 according to the invention.
- This cell 21 has in general the the same configuration as the solar cell 1 shown in fig. 1. Corresponding members have been indicated by corresponding reference signs.
- the advantage of the configuration of cell 21 shown in fig. 2 is the formation within the current transporting amorphous n-Si and p-Si layers 5,6 and 7,8 of small layers of corresponding micro-cristalline silicon 25,26 and 27,28 respectively, thus considerably reducing the resistance of these layers.
- a further reduction of resistance in the cell 21 has been attained by the doping of the groove walls 10,12 and 9,11 with micro-crystalline n-type silicon 35 and p-type silicon 36 respectively.
Landscapes
- Photovoltaic Devices (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AU54094/96A AU5409496A (en) | 1995-05-01 | 1996-04-23 | Solar cell having a thin film silicon multiple layer structu re |
EP96911113A EP0826242A1 (en) | 1995-05-01 | 1996-04-23 | Solar cell having a thin film silicon multiple layer structure |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
NL1000264 | 1995-05-01 | ||
NL1000264A NL1000264C2 (en) | 1995-05-01 | 1995-05-01 | Solar cell with multilayer structure of thin films of silicon. |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO1996035235A1 true WO1996035235A1 (en) | 1996-11-07 |
Family
ID=19760958
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/NL1996/000177 WO1996035235A1 (en) | 1995-05-01 | 1996-04-23 | Solar cell having a thin film silicon multiple layer structure |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0826242A1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU5409496A (en) |
NL (1) | NL1000264C2 (en) |
TW (1) | TW280951B (en) |
WO (1) | WO1996035235A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE102010026289A1 (en) * | 2010-07-06 | 2012-01-12 | Sameday Media Gmbh | Solar cell has solar cell layer having several n-doped regions and p-doped regions which are alternately arranged such that successive p-doped and n-doped regions are separated and spaced from each other by intrinsic region |
Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2083705A (en) * | 1980-09-09 | 1982-03-24 | Energy Conversion Devices Inc | Stacked photoresponsive cells of amorphous semiconductors |
FR2598033A1 (en) * | 1984-10-29 | 1987-10-30 | Mitsubishi Electric Corp | AMORPHOUS SOLAR CELL |
WO1993012543A1 (en) * | 1991-12-09 | 1993-06-24 | Unisearch Limited | Buried contact, interconnected thin film and bulk photovoltaic cells |
US5338370A (en) * | 1991-05-07 | 1994-08-16 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Photovoltaic device |
WO1995027314A1 (en) * | 1994-03-31 | 1995-10-12 | Pacific Solar Pty. Limited | Multiple layer thin film solar cells with buried contacts |
-
1995
- 1995-05-01 NL NL1000264A patent/NL1000264C2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1995-05-02 TW TW084104368A patent/TW280951B/en active
-
1996
- 1996-04-23 WO PCT/NL1996/000177 patent/WO1996035235A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1996-04-23 AU AU54094/96A patent/AU5409496A/en not_active Abandoned
- 1996-04-23 EP EP96911113A patent/EP0826242A1/en not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
GB2083705A (en) * | 1980-09-09 | 1982-03-24 | Energy Conversion Devices Inc | Stacked photoresponsive cells of amorphous semiconductors |
FR2598033A1 (en) * | 1984-10-29 | 1987-10-30 | Mitsubishi Electric Corp | AMORPHOUS SOLAR CELL |
US5338370A (en) * | 1991-05-07 | 1994-08-16 | Canon Kabushiki Kaisha | Photovoltaic device |
WO1993012543A1 (en) * | 1991-12-09 | 1993-06-24 | Unisearch Limited | Buried contact, interconnected thin film and bulk photovoltaic cells |
WO1995027314A1 (en) * | 1994-03-31 | 1995-10-12 | Pacific Solar Pty. Limited | Multiple layer thin film solar cells with buried contacts |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE102010026289A1 (en) * | 2010-07-06 | 2012-01-12 | Sameday Media Gmbh | Solar cell has solar cell layer having several n-doped regions and p-doped regions which are alternately arranged such that successive p-doped and n-doped regions are separated and spaced from each other by intrinsic region |
DE102010026289B4 (en) * | 2010-07-06 | 2014-10-30 | Sameday Media Gmbh | Solar cell and process |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
TW280951B (en) | 1996-07-11 |
NL1000264C2 (en) | 1996-11-04 |
EP0826242A1 (en) | 1998-03-04 |
AU5409496A (en) | 1996-11-21 |
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