Abstract
The Silicon-based solar cell is one of the most important enablers toward high efficiency and low-cost clean energy resource. Metallization of silicon-based solar cells typically utilizes screen printed silver-Aluminium (Ag-Al) which affects the optimal electrical performance. To date, metal silicide-based ohmic contacts are occasionally used as an alternative candidate only to the front contact grid lines in crystalline silicon (c-Si) based solar cells. In this paper, we investigate the electrical characteristics of nickel mono-silicide (NiSi)/Cu-Al ohmic contact on the rear side of c-Si solar cells. We observe a significant enhancement in the fill factor of around 6.5% for NiSi/Cu-Al rear contacts leading to increasing the efficiency by 1.2% compared to Ag-Al. This is attributed to the improvement of the parasitic resistance in which the series resistance decreased by 0.737 Ω.cm². Further, we complement experimental observation with a simulation of different contact resistance values, which manifests NiSi/Cu-Al rear contact as a promising low-cost metallization for c-Si solar cells with enhanced efficiency.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1627-1632 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Energy Technology |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 26 2018 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): GEN/1/4014-01-01
Acknowledgements: This publication is based upon work supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Technology Transfer Office under Award No. GEN/1/4014-01-01.