Solar cells fabricated by using CVD epitaxial Si films on metallurgical-grade Si wafers
US8637761B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 23, 2008 |
| Grant date | Jan 28, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 10, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02P70/50
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for fabricating a solar cell. The method includes: melting a metallurgical-grade (MG) Si feedstock, lowering a single-crystalline Si seed to touch the surface of the molten MG-Si, slowly pulling out a single-crystal Si ingot of the molten MG-Si, processing the Si ingot into single crystal Si wafers to form MG-Si substrates for subsequent epitaxial growth, leaching out residual metal impurities in the MG-Si substrate, epitaxially growing a layer of single-crystal Si thin film doped with boron on the MG-Si substrate, doping phosphor to the single-crystal Si thin film to form an emitter layer, depositing an anti-reflection layer on top of the single-crystal Si thin film, and forming the front and the back electrical contacts.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.