Development of high-performance multicrystalline silicon for photovoltaic industry
Journal
Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
Journal Volume
23
Journal Issue
3
Pages
340-351
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Abstract
The low cost and high quality of multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) based on directional solidification has become the main stream in photovoltaic (PV) industry. The mc-Si quality affects directly the conversion efficiency of solar cells, and thus, it is crucial to the cost of PV electricity. With the breakthrough of crystal growth technology, the so-called high-performance mc-Si has increased about 1% in solar cell efficiency from 16.6% in 2011 to 17.6% in 2012 based on the whole ingot performance. In this paper, we report our development of this high-performance mc-Si. The key ideas behind this technology for defect control are discussed. With the high-performance mc-Si, we have achieved an average efficiency of near 17.8% and an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 633mV in production. The distribution of cell efficiency was rather narrow, and low-efficiency cells (<17%) were also very few. The power of the 60-cell module using the high-efficiency cells could reach 261 W as well. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Subjects
Directional solidification; Grain growth; Multicrystalline silicon; Semiconducting silicon; Solar cells
SDGs
Other Subjects
Costs; Efficiency; Grain boundaries; Grain growth; Open circuit voltage; Photovoltaic cells; Polysilicon; Silicon compounds; Silicon solar cells; Solar cells; Solidification; Average efficiencies; Cell efficiency; Crystal growth technology; High-efficiency cells; Multi-crystalline silicon; Multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si); Photovoltaic industry; Solar cell efficiencies; Semiconducting silicon
Type
journal article