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Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells. / Gareth John Blayney

Swansea University Author: Gareth John Blayney

Abstract

Over the last five years, a dramatic expansion of renewable energy from Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells has been witnessed. This expansion is due in part to wafer based silicon solar cells. Crystalline silicon solar cells currently dominate the PV market because of their low cost per watt of electrici...

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Published: 2014
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42531
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spelling 2018-08-02T16:24:29.5717948 v2 42531 2018-08-02 Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells. a865597a721d366b67b137bf864e1514 NULL Gareth John Blayney Gareth John Blayney true true 2018-08-02 Over the last five years, a dramatic expansion of renewable energy from Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells has been witnessed. This expansion is due in part to wafer based silicon solar cells. Crystalline silicon solar cells currently dominate the PV market because of their low cost per watt of electricity production. In order for silicon solar cells to continue to govern the market, efficiency improvements and cost reductions must be made. This work focuses on both cost reduction and efficiency improvements, for wafer based silicon solar cells. The main aim of the work was to produce a thin monocrystalline wafer based silicon solar cell. A large proportion of the cost of conventional monocrystalline solar cells is related to the use of high purity silicon substrates. By producing a cell that uses less silicon, significant cost savings can be made. Conventional wafering techniques used in industry are reaching their limit for thin wafer production. The method adopted in this work uses a simple silicon exfoliation technique capable of producing ultrathin silicon foils. A fully operational solar cell was fabricated from a 40mum exfoliated silicon foil. The thin wafer based silicon solar cell was more than four times thinner than a commercially produced equivalent. The work investigated a variety of principles related to the exfoliation and the suitability of the technique for thin photovoltaic devices. By using a thin exfoliated substrate, conventional anti-reflective (AR) suppressing processes could prove problematic. Experiments were conducted into finding an alternative technique to match the performance of the conventional AR process. The formation of porous silicon (PSi) on the surface of a silicon substrate was found not only to match the commercial process, but to exceed it. With a porous silicon layer, reflectivity was suppressed to just 6.68%. The technique could be applied to both thin silicon solar cells and conventional thicker wafer based cells. The reflectivity suppressive layer could be fabricated in a single simple processing step. Investigation was also focused upon the top contact for silicon solar cells. As the top of the cell is responsible for current collection and light absorption, large electrical contacts shade the cell resulting in a decrease in efficiency. Silver nanowires (AgNWs) were successfully analysed and deposited onto standard silicon solar cell top contacts as an enhancement coating. Such a coating was found to improve the collection ability of the top contact without causing a significant increase in shading loss. The use of an optimised AgNW coating can increase cell efficiency by as much as 37%. E-Thesis Electrical engineering. 31 12 2014 2014-12-31 COLLEGE NANME Engineering COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Doctoral Ph.D 2018-08-02T16:24:29.5717948 2018-08-02T16:24:29.5717948 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Uncategorised Gareth John Blayney NULL 1 0042531-02082018162501.pdf 10805280.pdf 2018-08-02T16:25:01.8330000 Output 27605595 application/pdf E-Thesis true 2018-08-02T16:25:01.8330000 false
title Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells.
spellingShingle Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells.
Gareth John Blayney
title_short Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells.
title_full Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells.
title_fullStr Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells.
title_full_unstemmed Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells.
title_sort Investigation of wafer processing technologies for the production of low-cost, improved efficiency Si PV cells.
author_id_str_mv a865597a721d366b67b137bf864e1514
author_id_fullname_str_mv a865597a721d366b67b137bf864e1514_***_Gareth John Blayney
author Gareth John Blayney
author2 Gareth John Blayney
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2014
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Uncategorised{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Uncategorised
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Over the last five years, a dramatic expansion of renewable energy from Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells has been witnessed. This expansion is due in part to wafer based silicon solar cells. Crystalline silicon solar cells currently dominate the PV market because of their low cost per watt of electricity production. In order for silicon solar cells to continue to govern the market, efficiency improvements and cost reductions must be made. This work focuses on both cost reduction and efficiency improvements, for wafer based silicon solar cells. The main aim of the work was to produce a thin monocrystalline wafer based silicon solar cell. A large proportion of the cost of conventional monocrystalline solar cells is related to the use of high purity silicon substrates. By producing a cell that uses less silicon, significant cost savings can be made. Conventional wafering techniques used in industry are reaching their limit for thin wafer production. The method adopted in this work uses a simple silicon exfoliation technique capable of producing ultrathin silicon foils. A fully operational solar cell was fabricated from a 40mum exfoliated silicon foil. The thin wafer based silicon solar cell was more than four times thinner than a commercially produced equivalent. The work investigated a variety of principles related to the exfoliation and the suitability of the technique for thin photovoltaic devices. By using a thin exfoliated substrate, conventional anti-reflective (AR) suppressing processes could prove problematic. Experiments were conducted into finding an alternative technique to match the performance of the conventional AR process. The formation of porous silicon (PSi) on the surface of a silicon substrate was found not only to match the commercial process, but to exceed it. With a porous silicon layer, reflectivity was suppressed to just 6.68%. The technique could be applied to both thin silicon solar cells and conventional thicker wafer based cells. The reflectivity suppressive layer could be fabricated in a single simple processing step. Investigation was also focused upon the top contact for silicon solar cells. As the top of the cell is responsible for current collection and light absorption, large electrical contacts shade the cell resulting in a decrease in efficiency. Silver nanowires (AgNWs) were successfully analysed and deposited onto standard silicon solar cell top contacts as an enhancement coating. Such a coating was found to improve the collection ability of the top contact without causing a significant increase in shading loss. The use of an optimised AgNW coating can increase cell efficiency by as much as 37%.
published_date 2014-12-31T03:53:09Z
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score 11.029921

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