Comparison of Recombination Activity of Grain Boundaries in Various Multicrystalline Silicon Materials

Direct comparison of the electrical properties of multicrystalline silicon materials for solar cells_ conventional p-type, n-type and high performance p-type

We compare the recombination properties of three important types of multicrystalline silicon wafers for solar cells, namely conventionally-solidified p-type and n-type multicrystalline wafers, and also the recently developed ‘high performance’ p-type multicrystalline wafers. Three distinct regions of the wafers are examined in detail. These are the intra-grain regions, the grain boundaries, and...

Electrical Properties of Different Types of Grain Boundaries in Multicrystalline Silicon by Photoluminescence Imaging

There are numerous types of Grain Boundaries (GBs) present in multicrystalline silicon wafers, such as ∑3, ∑9, ∑27 and Random Angle (RA) GBs. Small-Angle Grain Boundaries (SA GBs) are also common, and often occur in locally dense networks, creating regions of high recombination. These GBs can limit the efficiency of multicrystalline silicon solar cells, especially when they are decorated with i...

Quantifying carrier recombination at grain boundaries in multicrystalline silicon wafers through photoluminescence imaging

Influence of defect type on hydrogen passivation efficacy in multicrystalline silicon solar cells

We examine the effectiveness of hydrogen passivation as a function of defect type and microstructure at grain boundaries (GBs) in multicrystalline silicon. We analyze a solar cell with alternating mm-wide bare and SiN.,-coated stripes us ing laser-beam-i nduced current, electron backscatter diffraction, X-ray fluorescence microscopy, and defect etching to correlate preand post-hydrogenation rec...

Applications of carrier de-smearing of photoluminescence images on silicon wafers

Lateral carrier diffusion can lead to significant smearing in photoluminescence (PL) images of silicon wafers with high lifetime or localised recombination centres. A method to de-smear the PL image by applying the continuity equation in two dimensions has been proposed previously and demonstrated on a virtual wafer with simulated carrier diffusion and artificial random Gaussian noise. This wor...