• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.41-47
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• 2024

CIGS solar cells are thin film solar cells that have excellent light absorption coefficient and can be manufactured with high efficiency through the use of low materials. In Korea, they must pass KS certification for home and commercial installation. KS C 8562 is a standard for evaluating the durability of CIGS and thin film amorphous silicon solar modules and deals with contents such as light, temperature, humidity, and mechanical durability. Unlike general crystalline silicon solar modules, the CIGS solar module has a different behavior of output change through these environmental tests, so if it shows 90% or more of the rated output suggested by the manufacturer after the final test, it is judged to be a suitable product. In this paper, the output before and after individual tests was measured through the test method of KS C 8562 to observe the output change and to discover the vulnerabilities of the CIGS solar module when exposed to various environments. Through this, it was confirmed that humidity exposure was the most vulnerable and that it had output recovery characteristics for light (visible light and ultraviolet rays). This study attempted to present the output behavior characteristics and data of the CIGS module at the time when the high efficiency thin film photovoltaic module market is expected to be created in the future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.192-193
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• 2007

An evaporated Ti/Pd/Ag contact system is most widely used to make high-efficiency silicon solar cells, however, the system is not cost effective due to expensive materials and vacuum techniques. Commercial solar cells with screen-printed contacts formed by using Ag paste suffer from a low fill factor and a high shading loss because of high contact resistance and low aspect ratio. Low-cost Ni and Cu metal contacts have been formed by using electro less plating and electroplating techniques to replace the Ti/Pd/Ag and screen-printed Ag contacts. Ni/Cu alloy is plated on a silicon substrate by electro-deposition of the alloy from an acetate electrolyte solution, and nickel-silicide formation at the interface between the silicon and the nickel enhances stability and reduces the contact resistance. It was, therefore, found that nickel-silicide was suitable for high-efficiency solar cell applications. Cu was electroplated on the Ni layer by using a light induced plating method. The Cu electroplating solution was made up of a commercially available acid sulfate bath and additives to reduce the stress of the copper layer. In this paper, we investigated low-cost Ni/Cu contact formation by electro less and electroplating for crystalline silicon solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.243-243
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• 2010

This paper two different etching, HF : HNO3 :DI and RIE were used for etching in multi-crystalline Silicon(Mc-Si) solar cell fabrication. The wafers etched in RIE texture showed low reflectance compared to the wafers etched in Acid soultion after SiNx deposition. In light current-voltage results, the cells etched in RIE texture exhibited higher short circuit current and open circuit voltage than those of the cells etched in acid solution. We have obtained 15.1% conversion efficiency in large area($156cm^2$) Multi-Si solar cells etched in RIE texture.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.100.2-100.2
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• 2012

Surface texturing of crystalline silicon is carried out in alkaline solutions for anisotropic etching that leads to random pyramids of about $10{\mu}m$ in size. Recently textured pyramids size gradually reduced using new solution. In this paper, we investigated that texture pyramids size had an impact on emitter property and front electrode (Ag) contact. To make small (${\sim}3{\mu}m$) and large (${\sim}10{\mu}m$) pyramids size, texturing times control and one side texturing using a silicon nitride film were carried out. Then formation and quality of POCl3-diffused n+ emitter in furnace compare with small and large pyramids by using SEM images, simulation (SILVACO, Athena module) and emitter saturation current density (J0e). After metallization, Ag contact resistance was measured by transfer length method (TLM) pattern. And surface distributions of Ag crystallites were observed by SEM images. Also, performance of cell which is fabricated by screen-printed solar cells is compared by light I-V.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.12-15
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• 2016

Screen printing technique followed by firing has commonly been used as metallization for both laboratory and industrial based solar cells. In the solar cell industry, the firing process is usually conducted in a belt furnace and needs to be optimized for fabricating high efficiency solar cells. The printed-Al layer on the silicon is rapidly heated at over $800^{\circ}C$ which forms a layer of back surface field (BSF) between Si-Al interfaces. The BSF layer forms $p-p^+$ structure on the rear side of cells and lower rear surface recombination velocity (SRV). To have low SRV, deep $p^+$ layer and uniform junction formation are required. In this experiment, firing process was carried out by using conventional tube furnace with $N_2$ gas atmosphere to optimize $V_{oc}$ of laboratory cells. To measure the thickness of BSF layer, selective etching was conducted by using a solution composed of hydrogen fluoride, nitric acid and acetic acid. The $V_{oc}$ and pseudo efficiency were measured by Suns-$V_{oc}$ to compare cell properties with varied firing condition.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2012.03a
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• pp.146-148
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• 2012

In our study, we have focused on optimizing good quality of ZnS buffer layer by chemical bath deposition (CBD) from a bath containing $ZnSO_4$, Thiourea and Ammonia in aqueous solution onto CIGS solar cells. The influence of deposition parameter such as pH, deposition temperature, stirring speed played a very important role on transmission, homogeneity, crystalline of ZnS buffer layer. The transmission spectrum showed a good transmission characteristic above 80% invisible spectral region. CIGS thin flim solar cell with ZnS buffer layer has been realized with the efficiency of 14.2%.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.83-88
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• 2017

The growth of intermetallic compounds is an important factor in the reliability of solar cells. Especially, the temperature change in the soldering process greatly affects the thickness of the intermetallic compound layer. In this study, we investigated the intermetallic compound growth by Sn-diffusion in solder joints of solar cells. The thickness of the intermetallic compound layer was analyzed by IR lamp power and hot plate temperature control, and the correlation between the intermetallic compound layer and the adhesive strength was confirmed by a $90^{\circ}$ peel test. In order to investigate the growth of the intermetallic compound layer during isothermal aging, the growth of the intermetallic compound layer was analyzed at $85^{\circ}C$ and 85% for 500 h. In addition, the activation energy of Sn was calculated. The diffusion coefficient of the intermetallic compound layer was simulated and compared with experimental results to predict the long-term reliability.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.102-107
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• 2010

a-Si solar cell has relatively dominant drift current when compared with crystalline solar cell due to the high internal electric field. Such drift current make an impact on the PV module in the local shading. In this paper, the a-Si PV module output characteristics of shading effects was approached in terms of process condition, because of the different deposition layer of thin film lead to rising the resistance. We suggested design condition to ensure the long-term durability of the module with regard to the degradation factors such as hot spot by analyzing the module specification. The result shows a remarkable difference on module uniformity for each shading position. In addition, the unbalanced power loss due to power mismatch of each module could intensify the degradation.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.56.2-56.2
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• 2010

국부적 후면 전극(LBC)형성은 결정질 실리콘 태양전지에서 고효율과 저가화를 동시에 달성할 수 있는 기술이다. 후면 표면 passivation과 국부적 후면 전극 형성을 통해서 후면 재결합 속도를 낮출 수 있고 이를 통해 효율향상을 기대해볼 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 PECVD를 이용한 LBC(local back contact) cell의 후면 passivation 박막을 형성하였고 접합면적에 따른 전기적 특성을 분석해 보았다. LBC cell을 위한 후면 passivation 박막은 PECVD를 이용한 ONO박막을 사용하였고, 후면 opening 형성에 etching paste를 이용하였다. Opening size는 0.4mm,0.5mm,0.7mm로 형성하여 cell을 제작하고 효율을 분석하였다. 실험결과 opening size가 0.4mm일때 전극의 접촉면적이 15.96%, 0.5mm일때 10.22%, 0.7mm일때 5.17%로 형성됨을 확인할 수 있었다. Opening size가 0.4mm일 때 cell의 효율이 가장 우수함을 IQE 및 LIV 결과를 통해 확인 할 수 있었다. 결과적으로 접촉면적이 증가함에 따라 전극에서 수집되는 carrier의 양이 증가하고 셀 효율역시 향상됨을 확인 할 수 있었다.

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.154-157
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• 2011

Hydrogenated silicon nitride deposited by LF-PECVD is commonly used for anti-reflection coating and passivation in silicon solar cell fabrication. The deposition of the optimized silicon nitride on the surface is elemental in crystalline silicon solar cell. In this work, the carrier lifetimes were measured while the thicknesses of $SiN_x$ were changed from 700 ${\AA}$ to 1150 ${\AA}$ with the gas flow of $SiH_4$ as 40 sccm and $NH_3$ as 120 sccm,. The carrier lifetime enhanced as the thickness of $SiN_x$ increased due to improved passivation effect. To study the characteristics of $SiN_x$ with various gas ratios, the gas flow of $NH_3$ was changed from 40 sccm to 200 sccm with intervals of 40 sccm. The thickness of $SiN_x$ was fixed as 1000 ${\AA}$ and the gas flow of $SiH_4$ as 40 sccm. The refractive index of SiNx and the carrier lifetime were measured before and after heat treating at $650^{\circ}C$ to investigate their change by the firing process in solar cell fabrication. The index of refraction of SiNx decreased as the gas ratios increased and the longest carrier lifetime was measured with the gas ratio $NH_3/SiH_4$ of 3.