Analysis of temperature and impurity distributions in a unidirectional-solidification process for multi-crystalline silicon of solar cells by a global model

Abstract

The unidirectional-solidification process is a key method for large-scale production of multi-crystalline silicon for use in highly efficient solar cells in the photovoltaic industry. Since the efficiency of solar cells depends on the crystal quality of the multi-crystalline silicon, it is necessary to optimize the unidirectional-solidification process to control temperature and impurity distributions in a silicon ingot. We developed a transient global model for the unidirectional-solidification process. We carried out calculations to investigate the temperature and impurity distributions in a silicon ingot during solidification. Conductive heat transfer and radiative heat exchange in a unidirectional-solidification furnace and convective heat transfer in the melt in a crucible are coupled to each other. These heat exchanges were solved iteratively by a finite volume method in a transient condition. Time-dependent distributions of impurity and temperature in a silicon ingot during the unidirectional-solidification process were numerically investigated.