By Kuang-Chieh Lai, Yueh-Lin Lee, Ming-Shiou Lin, Chia-Chih Chuang, Chi-Chun Li & Chien-Chun Wang,, Motech Industries, Inc., Tainan, Taiwan
This paper presents the fabrication of front-junction n-type silicon solar cells with Cu-plated electrodes, using laser contact opening and forward-bias plating. The cells feature a back-surface field formed by a phosphorus implant, and a diffused boron emitter with aluminium oxide passivation. Laser ablation of the front-side dielectric layers is followed by a metallization based on Ni/Cu forward-bias plating, while sintered metal paste is used for the rear electrode. The results show improved line conductivity and contact resistivity for the plated electrode, leading to higher solar cell efficiency than for cells made with conventional Ag/Al paste. On 6" n-type Czochralski wafers, cell efficiencies of up to 21.3% have been demonstrated, with an open-circuit voltage of 654mV, a short-circuit current of 40.8mA/cm2 and a fill factor of 79.8%.