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The selective emitter formation by laser doping is a well known process to increase the efficiency of silicon solar cells [1] , [2] . For the characterization of laser doped emitters, SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy) and ECV (Electrochemical Capacitance Voltage Measurement) techniques are used to analyze the emitter profile [3] . It is very difficult to get acceptable result by SIMS on a textured surface, so only ECV can be used. It has been shown, that a charge carrier depth profile can be measured on a homogeneous emitter only by ECV. The use of laser doping results in a non-homogeneous emitter. We have shown that the emitter depth is not just a function of the pulse power, but in addition of the surface structure of the wafer. The texture seems responsible for a strong variability in the doping profile. It has been shown, that the ECV measurement is not applicable to characterize the emitter depth on laser doped areas, because of the microscopic inhomogeneities in the emitter on the macroscopic measurement area. The real emitter profiles are to complex to be characterized by SIMS or ECV. We have shown that the variation in the emitter profile is resulting from the texture in the laser-doped regions.

The growth of highly conductive boron doped microcrystalline silicon by the hot wire method was studied. Various series of films were deposited to investigate the influence of the deposition parameters on conductivity, crystallinity and (void-related) microstructure. Maximum (room temperature) conductivities > 200 S/cm with carrier mobilities > 2.5 cm2/Vs were achieved. While a high crystallinity is the major requirement for achieving high conductivities, the microstructure is also of influence. (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

In this paper, we report on tire outcome of a German network project conducted with 12 partners from universities and research institutes on the material development of dye solar cells (DSC). We give an overview in the field and evaluate the concept of monolithic DSC further with respect to upscaling and producibility oil glass substrates. We have developed a manufacturing process for monolithic DSC modules which is entirely based on screen printing. Similar to our previous experience gained in the sealing of standard DSC, the encapsulation of the modules is achieved in a fusing step by soldering of glass frit layers. For use in monolithic DSC, a platinum free, conductive counter electrode layer, showing a charge transfer resistance of R-CT

Thermal stability of passivating layers in amorphous/crystalline silicon (a-Si/c-Si) heterojunction solar cells is crucial for industrial processing and long-term device stability. Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) yields outstanding surface passivation as atomic hydrogen saturates silicon dangling bonds at the a-Si/c-Si interface. Yet, a-Si surface passivation typically starts to degrade already at annealing temperatures in the range of 200 to 250 °C depending on annealing time, and optical absorption in front layers of a-Si reduces the short circuit current density. We show that oxygen incorporation into a-Si:H films enhances the thermal stability of the passivation and reduces parasitic absorption. We further show that for good passivation of the a-Si/c-Si interface, a compact material structure of the a-Si:O:H films is required where atomic hydrogen is the dominating type of diffusing hydrogen species. For plasma deposited a-Si:O:H films, oxygen incorporation of up to 10 at. % leads to an increa...

This paper examines the thermodynamic limits of photovoltaic solar energy conversion by fluorescent collectors. The maximum efficiency of a fluorescent collector corresponds to the Shockley–Queisser limit for a nonconcentrating solar cell with a single bandgap energy. To achieve this efficiency, the collector requires a photonic structure at its surface that acts as an omnidirectional spectral band stop filter. The large potential of photonic structures for the efficiency enhancement of idealized as well as real fluorescent collectors is highlighted.