Development of Cu plating for silicon heterojunction solar cells

Antony Aguilar, Stanislau Herasimenka, Joseph Karas, Harsh Jain, Jongwon Lee, Krystal Munoz, Lynne Michaelson, Tom Tyson, William J. Dauksher, Stuart Bowden

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper reports the results of the study comparing various patterning and plating methods for the deposition of Cu electrodes on transparent conductive oxides for silicon heterojunction solar cells. We compared direct electroplating of Cu on different metal seeds (Ag, Ni, Cr and Ti deposited on transparent conductive oxide by physical vapor deposition) to the light induced plating of Ni/Cu directly on transparent conductive oxide. Patterning was done either using photoresists (formed by spin-on, screen printing or lamination) or lift-off of the PECVD dielectric using screen printed resist. The geometry of the fingers, line resistance, contact resistance and adhesion were used as comparative parameters. We identified direct electroplating of Cu on the sputtered Ag seed to achieve the lowest contact resistance and the best adhesion. All photoresists were able to achieve less than 60 micron resolution and could produce the fingers with the sought height (some, however, having a characteristic mushroom shape). The best silicon heterojunction cell with Cu contacts directly electroplated on the sputtered Ag seed achieved 21.9% efficiency on 153 cm2 area.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2016 IEEE 43rd Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages1972-1975
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9781509027248
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 18 2016
Event43rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016 - Portland, United States
Duration: Jun 5 2016Jun 10 2016

Publication series

NameConference Record of the IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
Volume2016-November
ISSN (Print)0160-8371

Other

Other43rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPortland
Period6/5/166/10/16

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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