Rear-emitter silicon heterojunction solar cells with atomic layer deposited ZnO:Al serving as an alternative transparent conducting oxide to In2O3:Sn
Niemela, Janne-Petteri; Macco, Bart; Barraud, Loris; Descoeudres, Antoine; Badel, Nicolas; Despeisse, Matthieu; Christmann, Gabriel; Nicolay, Sylvain; Ballif, Christophe; Kessels, Wilhelmus M. M.; Creatore, Mariadriana
2019

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Abstract

Here high-efficiency (above 21%) large-area silicon heterojunction solar cells with atomic layer deposited ZnO:Al as front- or back-side transparent conducting oxide are demonstrated. Photoconductance decay measurements indicate that the excellent chemical passivation provided by the a-Si:H(i,p) and a-Si:H(i,n) stacks is preserved upon deposition of ZnO:Al, and that field-effect passivation losses for the a-Si:H(i,p)/ZnO:Al contact can be mitigated by lowering the Al doping level. Use of low Al-doping is enabled by the rear-emitter configuration which, in addition to facilitating the a-Si:H(i,p)/ZnO:Al contact engineering, enables a higher photo-current due to the decrease in free-carrier absorption in ZnO:Al. The results encourage the use of In-free transparent conducting oxides in silicon heterojunction solar cells, as the replacement of In2O3:Sn without efficiency loss is demonstrated.

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Title Rear-emitter silicon heterojunction solar cells with atomic layer deposited ZnO:Al serving as an alternative transparent conducting oxide to In2O3:Sn
Author(s) Niemela, Janne-Petteri ; Macco, Bart ; Barraud, Loris ; Descoeudres, Antoine ; Badel, Nicolas ; Despeisse, Matthieu ; Christmann, Gabriel ; Nicolay, Sylvain ; Ballif, Christophe ; Kessels, Wilhelmus M. M. ; Creatore, Mariadriana
Published in Solar Energy Materials And Solar Cells
Volume 200
Pages 109953
Date 2019-09-15
ISSN 0927-0248
1879-3398
Keywords
Note This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2019.109953
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Laboratories PV-LAB
Record Appears in Scientific production and competences > STI - School of Engineering > IEM - Institut d'Electricité et de Microtechnique > PV-LAB - Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory
Scientific production and competences > EPFL Partners > Neuchâtel Campus > PV-Lab - Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory
Peer-reviewed publications
Work produced at EPFL
Journal Articles
Published
Record creation date 2019-09-19

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