Solar cell and method for manufacturing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9871146-B2
Application number	US-201213560723-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2012
Priority date	Nov 16, 2011
Publication date	Jan 16, 2018
Grant date	Jan 16, 2018

Abstract

A solar cell includes a substrate formed of n-type single crystal silicon, an emitter region of a p-type which is positioned at a first surface of the substrate and includes a first emitter region having a first sheet resistance and a second emitter region having a second sheet resistance less than the first sheet resistance, a plurality of surface field regions of the n-type locally positioned at a second surface opposite the first surface of the substrate, a plurality of first electrodes which are positioned only on the second emitter region to be separated from one another and are connected to the second emitter region, and a plurality of second electrodes which are positioned on the plurality of surface field regions to be separated from one another and are connected to the plurality of surface field regions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A solar cell comprising:
a substrate having a first type conductivity, and having a first surface, a second surface opposite the first surface, and a third surface that is other than the first surface and the second surface;
an emitter region positioned at the first surface, the emitter region forming a p-n junction along with the substrate, the emitter region having a second type conductivity opposite of the first type conductivity;
a plurality of surface field regions locally positioned at the second surface, the plurality of surface field regions having the first type conductivity more heavily doped than that of the substrate;
a plurality of first electrodes positioned on the emitter region to be separated from one another and connected to the emitter region;
a plurality of second electrodes positioned on the plurality of surface field regions to be separated from one another and connected to the plurality of surface field regions;
a first anti-reflection layer positioned on the first surface, the second surface, and the third surface, the first anti-reflection layer being formed of aluminum oxide and having negative fixed charges;
a second anti-reflection layer positioned on the first anti-reflection layer at the first surface and the third surface, the second anti-reflection layer being formed of silicon nitride and having positive fixed charges;
a passivation layer positioned between the second surface and the first anti-reflection layer, the passivation layer being formed of silicon nitride and having positive fixed charges,
wherein the passivation layer is formed directly between the second surface and the first anti-reflection layer,
wherein the first anti-reflection layer is formed directly between the third surface and the second anti-reflection layer,
wherein each of the first anti-reflection layer and the passivation layer has a plurality of openings, where the plurality of second electrodes penetrate through the plurality of openings of each of the first anti-reflection layer and the passivation layer to connect to the plurality of back surface field regions positioned at the second surface,
wherein each of the passivation layer and the first anti-reflection layer are positioned on the entire second surface except for where the plurality of openings are positioned, and
wherein the first anti-reflection layer continuously wraps around from the first surface to the third surface, and continuously wraps around from the third surface to the second surface.

2. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of surface field regions has a dot shape.

3. The solar cell of claim 2 , wherein a pitch between two adjacent surface field regions of the plurality of surface field regions is about 0.03 mm to 0.11 mm.

4. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of surface field regions each has a stripe shape extending in a fixed direction.

5. The solar cell of claim 4 , wherein a pitch between two adjacent surface field regions of the plurality of surface field regions is about 0.1 mm to 0.6 mm.

6. The solar cell of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the first and second surfaces is an incident surface.

7. The solar cell of claim 1 , further comprising a reflection layer positioned on the plurality of second electrodes and between adjacent second electrodes.

8. The solar cell of claim 7 , wherein the reflection layer is formed of a metal material.

9. The solar cell of claim 8 , wherein the metal material is aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), an alloy (Al:Ag) of aluminum (Al) and silver (Ag), an Al alloy, or copper (Cu).

10. The solar cell of claim 8 , wherein the first surface is an incident surface, and the second surface is a non-incident surface.

11. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the emitter region includes a first emitter region having a first sheet resistance and a second emitter region having a second sheet resistance, and
wherein the first sheet resistance of the first emitter region is about 80Ω/sq. to 150Ω/sq., and the second sheet resistance of the second emitter region is about 30Ω/sq. to 70Ω/sq.

12. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the emitter region includes a first emitter region and a second emitter region, and
wherein the first emitter region has a first thickness and the second emitter region has a second thickness greater than the first thickness.

13. The solar cell of claim 12 , wherein the first thickness of the first emitter region is about 200 nm to 500 nm, and the second thickness of the second emitter region is about 400 nm to 700 nm.

14. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of surface field regions has a sheet resistance of about 15Ω/sq. to 45Ω/sq.

15. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the second anti-reflection layer has a thickness of about 70 nm to 80 nm and a refractive index of about 2.0 to 2.2.

16. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the passivation layer has a thickness of about 70 nm to 80 nm and a refractive index of about 2.0 to 2.2.

17. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the first anti-reflection layer has a thickness of about 5 nm to 10 nm and a refractive index of about 1.1 to 1.6.

18. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is formed of single crystal silicon, and
wherein the first type conductivity is n-type and the second type conductivity is p-type.

19. The solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the second anti-reflection layer is not positioned on the first anti-reflection layer on the second surface.

Assignees

• Shim Seunghwan
• Kim Kisu
• Yoon Eunae
• Hwang Yuju
• Lee Younghyun
• Park Sangwook
• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Shim Seunghwan
• Kim Kisu
• Yoon Eunae
• Hwang Yuju
• Lee Younghyun
• Park Sangwook

Classifications

• Y02E10/547

  Monocrystalline silicon PV cells · CPC title

• H01L31/022433

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/02363

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/068

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/02168 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic