Maximizing carrier extraction in hybrid back-contact silicon solar cells

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TL;DR

Hybrid back-contact silicon solar cells achieve 27.62% efficiency by optimizing a multifunctional front layer for light trapping and passivation, improving rear contacts, and increasing c-Si thickness to 160-μm.

Key Takeaways

  • Hybrid BC cells combine TOPCon n-type and SHJ p-type contacts with IBC structures for high performance.
  • A multifunctional front layer enhances light trapping and passivation, boosting efficiency.
  • Improved rear carrier-selective contacts and increased c-Si thickness (160-μm) lead to certified 27.62% efficiency.

Tags

Solar cellsScienceHumanities and Social Sciencesmultidisciplinary

Abstract

Hybrid back-contact (BC) silicon solar cells 1-3 combine the strengths of TOPCon-derived 4-7 n-type contacts, SHJ-derived 8-12 p-type contacts, and interdigitated BC (IBC)13,14 device structures. Though high performance in the form of 27.8% efficiency has been demonstrated,1 the understanding of the fundamental advantages of the hybrid BC architecture over conventional BC cells (e.g. eliminating front-surface metallization shading 3) remains unexplored. Here we take advantage of the design flexibility of the hybrid BC architecture to use a multifunctional front layer for both light trapping and passivation. Meanwhile, we improved carrier collection and process compatibility of the rear carrier-selective contacts. We also show the optimal c-Si absorber thickness is increased to 160-μm, leading to a certified efficiency of 27.62% for industrially compatible c-Si solar cells.

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Author information

Author notes
  1. These authors contributed equally: Zilong Zheng, Xiqi Yang, Jiaxing Wang, Qinghua Zeng

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Materials Low-Carbon Recycling, Beijing Key Lab of Microstructure and Properties of Advanced Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, P. R. China

    Zilong Zheng, Xiqi Yang, Jiaxing Wang, Qinghua Zeng, Rongkun Zhou, Hongbo Cai, Xiaofei Xu, Shenghou Zhou, Wanyu Lu, Qian Kang, Xiaoqing Chen, Kun Zheng, Yongzhe Zhang, Zhiyong Wang & Hui Yan

  2. Gold Stone (Fujian) Energy Company Limited, Quanzhou, China

    Xiqi Yang, Jiaxing Wang, Qinghua Zeng, Chaohua Zhang, Hong Zhang, Jiarong Huang, Yuhua Wang, Yusheng Yang & Jinyan Zhang

  3. College of New Materials and New Energies, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen, China

    Zeguo Tang

Authors
  1. Zilong Zheng
  2. Xiqi Yang
  3. Jiaxing Wang
  4. Qinghua Zeng
  5. Chaohua Zhang
  6. Hong Zhang
  7. Jiarong Huang
  8. Yuhua Wang
  9. Zeguo Tang
  10. Rongkun Zhou

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