• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.26-31
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• 2009

The surface etching characteristics of single crystalline silicon wafer were investigated using potassium hydroxide (KOH) and tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). The saw damage layer was removed after 10min by KOH 45wt% solution at $80^{\circ}C$. The wafer etched at high temperature ($90^{\circ}C$) and in low concentration (4wt%) of TMAH solution showed an increased etch rate of silicon wafer and wavy patterns on the surface. Especially, pyramidal textures were formed in 4wt% TMAH solution without alcohol additives.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.332-340
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• 2023

Crystalline silicon solar cells have attracted great attention for their various advantages, such as the availability of raw materials, high-efficiency potential, and well-established processing sequence. Tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells are widely regarded as one of the most prospective candidates for the next generation of high-performance solar cells because an efficiency of 26% has been achieved in small-area solar cells. Compared to n-type TOPCon solar cells, the photo conversion efficiency (PCE) of p-type TOPCon is slightly higher. The highest PCEs of p-type TOPCon and n-type TOPCon solar cells are 26.0% and 25.8%, respectively. Despite the highest efficiency in small-area cells, limited progress has been achieved in p-type TOPCon solar cells for large are due to their lower carrier lifetime and inferior surface passivation with the boron-doped c-Si wafer. Nevertheless, it is of great importance to promoting the p-type TOPCon technology due to its lower price and well-established manufacturing procedures with slight modifications in the PERC solar cells production lines. The progress in different approaches to increase the efficiencies of p-type TOPCon solar cells has been reported in this review article and is expected to set valuable strategies to promote the passivation technology of p-type TOPCon, which could further increase the efficiency of TOPCon solar cells.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-11
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• 2010

The reduction of optical losses in mono-crystalline silicon solar cell by surface texturing is a critical step to improve the overall cell efficiency. In this study, we have changed the sub-micrometer structure on the micrometer pyramidal structure by 2-step texturing. The Ag particles were coated on the micrometer pyramid surface in $AgNO_3$ solution, and then the etching with hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen peroxide created even smaller nano-pyramids in these pyramids. As a result, we observed that the changes of size and thickness of nano structure on pyramidal surface were determined by $AgNO_3$ concentration and etching time. Using 2-step texturing, the surface of wafers is etched to resemble the rough surface of a lotus leaf. Lotus surface can reduce average reflectance from 10% to below 3%. This reflectance is less than conventional textured wafer including anti-reflection coating.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.225-229
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• 2011

Most of the silicon cutting methods using the multi-wire with the slurry injection have been used for wafers of the crystalline solar cell. But the productivity of slurry injection cutting type falls due to low cutting speeds. Also, the direct contact with the metal wire and silicon block increases the concentration of metallic impurities in the wafer's surface. In addition, the abrasive silicon carbide (SiC) generates pollutants. And production costs are rising because it does not re-use the worn wire. On the other hand, the productivity of the cutting method using the diamond coated wire is about 2 times faster than the slurry injection cutting type. Also, the continuous cutting using the used wire of low wear is possible. And this is a big advantage for reduced production costs. Therefore, the cutting method of the diamond coated wire is more efficient than the slurry injection cutting technique. In this study, each cutting type is analyzed using the surface characteristics of the solar wafer and will describe the effects of the manufacturing process of the solar cell. Finally, we will suggest improvement methods of the solar cell process for using the diamond cutting type wafer.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.93-93
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• 2009

실리콘 태양전지의 효율 향상을 위한 노력의 일환으로 결정질 실리콘 웨이퍼 표면passivation 물질 중 Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)을 이용하여 증착한 $Al_2O_3$ 박막에 대한 관심이 증가하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 $Al_2O_3$ 박막의 증착 전 실리콘 웨이퍼의 산화막 두께에 따른 passivation 효과에 대해서 연구하였다. 실리콘 산화막은 $HNO_3$ 용액을 사용하여 화학적으로 생성시켰으며 $HNO_3$ 용액과의 반응 시간을 조절하여 실리콘 산화막의 두께를 조절하였다. 실리콘 산화막 생성 후 ALD로 $Al_2O_3$ 박막을 증착하였으며 증착 후 $N_2$ 분위기에서 annealing 하였다. Annealing 후 passivation 효과는 Quasi-Steady-State Photo Conductance를 사용하여 minority carrier의 lifetime을 측정하였다. Capacitance-Voltage measurement, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Ellipsometry를 사용하여 실리콘 산화막의 두께에 따른 $Al_2O_3$ 박막의 passivation 효과를 분석하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.07b
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• pp.977-980
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• 2004

본 논문에서는 저가 고효율 태양전지를 제작하기 위하여 p형 다결정 실리콘 기판을 사용하여 수산화 칼륨(KOH)이 포함된 용액에 Saw damage 과정 후 불산이 함유된 용액에 전기화학적 양극산화 과정으로 실리콘 웨이퍼 표면에 요철을 형성하여 다공성 실리콘을 형성 하였다. 본 논문은 전기화학적 에칭방법으로 기존의 진공장비로 제작된 반사방지막의 반사율만큼 감소된 다공성 실리콘 반사방지막을 형성하였다. 전자빔 증착기(e-beam evaporator)로 단층으로 형성된 $TiO_2$의 반사방지막은 400-1000 nm의 파장 범위에서 4.1 %의 평균 반사율을 가졌으며, 양극산화과정으로 형성된 다공성 실리콘은 400-1000 nm의 파장의 범위에서 4.4 %의 평균 반사율을 가졌다. 본 연구는 태양전지의 반사방지막 형성을 기존의 제작 방법보다 간단하고 저렴한 방법으로 접근하여 태양전지의 변환효율을 상승하는데 목적을 두었다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.406-406
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• 2016

To get high efficiency n-type crystalline silicon solar cells, passivation is one of the key factor. Tunnel oxide (SiO2) reduce surface recombination as a passivation layer and it does not constrict the majority carrier flow. In this work, the passivation quality enhanced by different chemical solution such as HNO3, H2SO4:H2O2 and DI-water to make thin tunnel oxide layer on n-type crystalline silicon wafer and changes of characteristics by subsequent annealing process and firing process after phosphorus doped amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposition. The tunneling of carrier through oxide layer is checked through I-V measurement when the voltage is from -1 V to 1 V and interface state density also be calculated about $1{\times}1012cm-2eV-1$ using MIS (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor) structure . Tunnel oxide produced by 68 wt% HNO3 for 5 min on $100^{\circ}C$, H2SO4:H2O2 for 5 min on $100^{\circ}C$ and DI-water for 60 min on $95^{\circ}C$. The oxide layer is measured thickness about 1.4~2.2 nm by spectral ellipsometry (SE) and properties as passivation layer by QSSPC (Quasi-Steady-state Photo Conductance). Tunnel oxide layer is capped with phosphorus doped amorphous silicon on both sides and additional annealing process improve lifetime from $3.25{\mu}s$ to $397{\mu}s$ and implied Voc from 544 mV to 690 mV after P-doped a-Si deposition, respectively. It will be expected that amorphous silicon is changed to poly silicon phase. Furthermore, lifetime and implied Voc were recovered by forming gas annealing (FGA) after firing process from $192{\mu}s$ to $786{\mu}s$. It is shown that the tunnel oxide layer is thermally stable.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.76-82
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• 2013

The solar cell is a device to convert light energy into electric, which supplies power to the external load when exposed to the incident light. The photocurrent and voltage occurred in the device are significant factors to decide the output power of solar cells. The crystalline silicon solar cell module has photocurrent loss due to light reflections on the glass and EVA(Ethylene Vinyl Acetate). These photocurrent loss would be a hinderance for high-efficiency solar cell module. In this paper, the quantitative analysis for the photocurrent losses in the 300-1200 wavelength region was performed. The simulation method with MATLAB was used to analyze the reflection on a front glass and EVA layer. To investigate the intensity of light that reached solar cells in PV(Photovoltaic) module, the reflectance and transmittance of PV modules was calculated using the Fresnel equations. The simulated photocurrent in each wavelength was compared with the output of real solar cells and the manufactured PV module to evaluate the reliability of simulation. As a result of the simulation, We proved that the optical loss largely occurred in wavelengths between 300 and 400 nm.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.207-212
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• 2011

In this study, pyramid structured black silicon process was developed in order to overcome disadvantages of using wet etching to texture the surface of single crystalline silicon and using grass/needle-like black silicon structure. In order to form the pyramidal black silicon structure on the silicon surface, the RIE system was modified to equip with metal-mesh on the top of head shower. The process conditions were : $SF_6/O_2$ gas flow 15/15 sccm, RF power of 200 W, pressure at 50 mTorr ~ 200 mTorr, and temperature at $5^{\circ}C$. The pressure did not affect the pyramid structure significantly. Increasing processing time increased the size of the pyramid, however, the size remained constant at 1 ${\mu}M$ ~ 2 ${\mu}M$ between 15 minutes ~ 20 minutes of processing. Pyramid structure of 1 ${\mu}M$ in size showed to have the lowest reflectivity of 7 % ~ 10 %. Also, the pyramid structure black silicon is more appropriate than the grass/needle-like black silicon when creating solar cells.

• 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.