Minicrystallization in directionally solidified multicrystalline silicon and its effect on the photovoltaic properties of solar cells

✍ Scribed by Liu, Bingfa ;Chen, Nan ;Du, Guoping ;Liu, Guihua ;Li, Yangsheng ;Sun, Wei ;Rossetto, Pietro

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 388 KB
• Volume: 208
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0031-8965
• DOI: 10.1002/pssa.201127172

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

In this paper, we report the occurrence of minicrystallization in multicrystalline silicon ingots grown by the directional solidification method and its effect on the photovoltaic (PV) properties of multicrystalline silicon solar cells. Minicrystallization in multicrystalline silicon ingots sometimes occurs when the directional solidification process is not properly optimized, and it causes much smaller grain sizes in the minicrystallized regions. Serious shunting behaviour has been observed in multicrystalline silicon solar cells containing minicrystallized regions, and it is highly localized to these minicrystallized regions. Minicrystallization in multicrystalline silicon considerably deteriorates the overall PV properties of solar cells.