15 th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules : Materials and Processes

Chemical and crystallographic defects are a reality of solar grade silicon wafers and industrial production processes. Long overlooked, phosphorus as a dopant in silicon wafers is an excellent way to mitigate recombination associated with these defects. This paper details the connection between defect recombination and solar cell terminal characteristics, for one specific case of high hole lifetime and low electron lifetime. It then looks at a detailed case study of the impact of diffusion induced dislocations on the recombination statistics in n-type and p-type silicon wafers and the terminal characteristics of high-efficiency, double-sided buried silicon solar cells made on both types of wafers. Several additional short case studies examine the recombination associated with other industrially relevant situations process-induced dislocations, surface passivation and unwanted contamination. On the whole, n-type silicon wafers are more tolerant to chemical and crystallographic defects, and as such, they have exceptional potential as a wafer for high-efficiency, commercial silicon solar cells.