High-efficiency heterojunction solar cells on crystalline silicon and germanium substrates enabled by low-temperature epitaxial growth of silicon

Bahman Hekmatshoar, Davood Shahrjerdi, Stephen W. Bedell, Devendra K. Sadana

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

We demonstrate high-efficiency heterojunction (HJ) solar cells realized by epitaxial growth of thin layers of highly-doped Si on crystalline Si (c-Si) and crystalline Ge (c-Ge) substrates using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at temperatures as low as 150°C. We have achieved a conversion efficiency of 21.4% on p-type c-Si substrates textured by random pyramids and Al-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) electrodes sputtered at room-temperature. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest conversion efficiency reported for HJ solar cells on p-type c-Si substrates. We have achieved conversion efficiencies of 5.9% and 6.4% on n-type and p-type c-Ge substrates, respectively, which are comparable with efficiencies reported for conventional c-Ge cells requiring process temperatures up to 600°C.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProgram - 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2012
Pages1590-1593
Number of pages4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2012
Event38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2012 - Austin, TX, United States
Duration: Jun 3 2012Jun 8 2012

Publication series

NameConference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
ISSN (Print)0160-8371

Other

Other38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAustin, TX
Period6/3/126/8/12

Keywords

  • amorphous silicon
  • epitaxial growth
  • germanium
  • heterojunction
  • photovoltaic cells
  • silicon

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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