Termintert: Negatively charged, dielectric thin film materials for rear surface passivation of industrial silicon solar cells

The main idea behind this project is to reduce the cost of solar electricity by developing and introducing new materials for rear surface passivation of p-type silicon wafers. Cost reduction is expected due to a combination of two factors. The solar cell efficiency will be increased through an improved rear surface passivation and an improved rear reflectance. Lower costs will be reached since the new rear surface material structure will enable the use of thinner silicon wafers. This project is an impor tant step in the development of the next generaion of rear surface passivated silicon solar cells. Both suitable materials and processes for manufacturing these materials are to be developed within this project. The research in the project is divided in to four main tasks: i) Development of deposition processes for making Al2O3 and other negatively charged, dielectric thin film materials. ii) Developing a thorough fundamental understanding of aluminium oxide through advanced characterization and modeling iii) Performing a search for new thin film materials for surface passivation. iv) Evaluating the potential of the materials in industrial solar cell processing. A laboratory scale setup for manufacturing the new materials will be ready by the end of 20 10, and a thorough understanding of the limitations and potential of the approach will emerge within the subsequent year. As soon as the concept is deemed sufficiently attractive, further in-house development of the surrounding solar cell production proce ss will be initiated and the process transferred to an industrial environment. This project will be a collaborative project between REC Solar and Institute for Energy Technology (IFE).