Development of preferentially current-generating silicon solar cells

Abstract

The work reports the development of ‘‘preferentially current-generating’’ p+-n-n+ silicon solar cells. The distinctive trait of developed devices is their extremely large short-circuit current density Jsc=38–39.7 mA/cm2, which is the highest value of Jsc reported thus far in the literature for ‘‘back-surface-field’’-type cells under AM1 conditions. The conversion efficiency of test cells ranged from 17.1 to 18.15%. The results of this work show clearly that a simple, but adequately designed/processed p+-n-n+ cell fabricated in industrial environment on large area (2 in.) silicon wafers could possess parameters similar or superior to those of sophisticated laboratory samples elaborated on small area silicon chips.