SolarCellDesign

EE332TermPaperFall2015
MasonWaetke
LoganBoas

Abstract:

Thepurposeofthisdesignreportistodescribetheprocessofdesigningasolarcell,and
tofindouthowcertainparameterscanaffectthepowercollectionefficiency.Ourfirsttaskisto
designthegridlayoutinordertogetatransmissionlossthatislessthan10%oftheinputpower.
Withagivenspecificationofthepowerinput,fillfactorandothervalues.Todothiswehaveto
findaninkthatmeetsourneeds.Thisbringsustothesecondchallenge,todescribethespecific
manufacturingprocessandmaterialsusedtocreatethiscell.

Introduction
Withthegrowingtransitiontorenewableenergysourcesinourworldtoday,solarpower
isoneofthefastestgrowingindustries.Thereishighdemandformoreandmoreefficientsolar
cellssothatourenergyproductioncanbecomemoreandmoreaffordable.Optimizingthe
semiconductorpropertiesinsolarcellsisadelicatetaskthatiscrucialtocuttingedgesolar
technology.
Thegeneraloperationconceptsofapnsolarcellarerelativelysimple.Thejunction
absorbsphotonswhenitisexposedtolight,andrespondstothisbyforminganelectron
/holepair
inthematerialaslongasthephotontransfersanenergygreaterthanthebandgapinsidethe
junction[1].Theelectricfieldinthejunctionthenseparatesthiselectron/holepair.Figure1
showshowthesefreeelectronswillbedrawntothecontact,creatingcurrentthroughthecircuit.
Aftertravelingthroughthecircuitandbacktothebase,electronswillrecombinewiththeholes
andbegintheprocessagain.Thisreactionoccursonaverylargescale,producinggreatercurrent
insolarcellswithgreatersurfacearea[1].Inthispaper,weusegivenspecificationstodesigna
gridandbusbarsystemfora10cmx10cmsiliconesolarcell,anddesignacostefficient
fabricationprocessthatdoesnotoverreachaspecifiedpowerloss.

Fig.1

DesignParameters:
Togetanideaofwhatneedstobedonetosolvethisproblem,wefirstmustlookatthe
givenparametersandidentifytheparametersthatneedtobedeliveredwithourdesign.The
tablebelowdetailstheinformationwearegivenalongwiththeparameterswemustdesigntofit
withinthespecifications,asshowninfigure2.
Fig.2

Given

ToFind

PhotonInputPower,
2
P
=
100mW/cm
in

Numberofpowerbuses

PowerGenerated(before

2
losses),P
=
20.1mW/cm

out

Busdimensions

PowerGenerated(afterlossesof Numberofbusfingers
2
<10%),P
=
18.1mW/cm

out
2
J
=
40mA/cm

SC

Fingerdimensions

V
=
0.67V
OC

Fingerspacing

FF=
0.75

SheetResistance,R
=
100/

Design:
Part1:Doping
Dopinglevelisoneparameterthatcanhaveagreateffectontheefficiencyand
functionalityofanypnjunction,solarcellsinparticular.Inordertocalculatethenecessary
dopingconcentration,wefirstmadeacoupleofassumptions.
Wemadetheemitterthickness
verythin(1micrometer)inordertogeneratemorecarriersfromtheincominglightwithinthe
2
junctiondiffusionregion.Forelectronmobility,
,weusedtheSivalue480cm
/Vs.
n

Usingthegivensheetresistancealongwiththecalculationofconductivity,weareableto
derivethecarrierconcentration,N
[2].
D

tn =

1
R

1
qN DnR

100/sq =

1
qN Dntn

18 3
Thisgivesusacarrierconcentration,Nd,of1.302x10
cm
.

Part2:GridDimensions
Themainchallengeofthisdesignprocesscomesfromcreatingawirebussystemthat
collectsasmuchoftheenergyaspossible,whilekeepingthebusandfingerdimensionsprecise
enoughtoreducelossesfromvarioussources.Thethreemaintypesoflosseswewillbedealing
witharedescribedbelowandarepicturedinFigure3.
Fig.3

Losses:
N+Layer
Eventhoughthislayerisheavily
doped,itsmaterialhasresistivequalities
greaterthanthatofthesilverconductors.
Thepathsthatthecollectedcurrenttravels
greatlyaffectsthepowerloss,andmustbe
consideredwhendesigningasolarcell.

Conductors
ThesehavemuchlessresistancecomparedtotheN+layer,butstillmustbeaccounted
forinthepowerlosscalculations.Thedimensionsofthesepathsneedtobeconsideredwith
theirresistanceinordertokeepsurfaceareaandtotalresistanceaslowaspossible.Conductor
losseswillbeseparatedandcalculatedasfingerandbuslosses.

Shadowing
BecausethebussesandfingersmustsitontopoftheN+layer,someamountofthe
Siliconareaunderneathwillnotbeexposedtosunlight.Thisareathatcouldbegenerating
powerandisntisconsideredloss,asitreducestheefficiencyofthecellandtheareaitoccupies.
Thisisanotherreasontoaimformaximumsurfaceareaandminimumbusarea.
Somethingelsetoconsiderwhendecidingonthenumberanddimensionsofthebusbars
andfingersissustainability.Havingafewlargefingerswouldbeeasiertomanufactureand
moresturdy,butwouldbelessefficientandwouldbecomemuchlesseffectiveifonefinger
becamedamaged.Ontheotherhand,manysmallerfingerswouldbeveryefficient,butmore
expensivetomanufactureandpronetodamage.
Theschematicontherightrepresentsthebasiccircuitthatis
formedbythesolarcell,wherethecurrentsourceisI
,thecurrent
SC
outputbythesemiconductorbeforelosses.Thedioderepresentsthe
junctioninforwardbiasmode,andtheparallelresistorrepresents
resistiveloss.Fromthis,weknowthat:

qV max
kT

I SC = I 0e

V max
R

V 2max
R

= 20.1mW

Fig.4

Usingtheseequations,wecanfindthatVmax
isabout0.623V.Dividingthemaxpowerby
thisvalueresultsinthemaximumcurrent
2
density,J
=32.3mA/cm
.Usingtheknown
max

FFvalue,wecanconfirmthesecalculations:

F F = .75 =

V maxI max
V OCI SC

Figure4onthepreviouspageshowsan
exampleofasolargrid,whichwillhelp

illustratetheconceptsusedincalculatingresistiveandshadowinglosses.FortheN+layer,we
areassumingthatcurrentisflowingintothefingersperpendicularly,andthenfollowingthepath
throughthebusbar.Inreality,somecurrentinareasneartheconductorintersectionswouldenter
directlyintothebusbarratherthangoingthroughthefingerfirst.Ignoringthisdetailwillhelp
makeourcalculationsmuchsimpler,buttheresultswillnotbeasefficientasarealsolarcell
woulddemonstrate.Inouractualdesign,wewillalsospacethetwobusbarsequally,sothatif
theboardweretobedivideddownthecenter,abuswouldberunningdownthemiddleofeach
half.Thiswillallowourfingerstoallhavethesamedimensions,andourboardtobefourfingers
wide.Lastly,thespacesinbetweenthefingerswillbereferredtoasS,sothatthemaximum
distancecurrenthastotraveltogettoafingerwillbeS/2.

FindingL
andL
f
b
Incalculatingthelengthofourbusbarsandfingers,wedecidedforsimplicitytousetwo
busbars.Asdescribedbefore,thesewilleachbespacedaquarterofthewayfromtheedgeofthe
cellsothatwecanuseafingerlengthofonequarterofthelengthofthecell.Therefore:

Lf = 2.5cm, Lb = 10cm

BusWidth
Usingthelengthsfromabove,theresistivityofthesilverweareusing,andthevoltageat
maximumpower,wecanfindthedesiredbuswidth[3].

Wb =

Lf Lb
2

AgJ max
mV max

= 0.0569cm

Wheretheresistivityofsilveris1.2mcmandweareassumingthatmis3.Form,3isusedfor
nontaperedfingerbusconnections,and4isusedfortapered.Thisdifference,asdescribed
earlier,requiresadifferentlevelofcomplexityinordertoaccountforthepathsoftaperedfingers
[4].

Powerlossinthebus
Resistive:
Tocalculatethepercentageoftotalpowerlostinthebusses,wecanintegratethe
maxpowercurrentwithrespecttothelengthofthebus[3].Thisequatestothefollowing

pbusr =

L2bLf AgJ max

4mV maxW b

= 2.278%

Shadowing:
Thepercentageofpowerlosttoshadowingduetothebusesissimplytheratioof
thebuswidthtothefingerlength[3].

pbussh =

Wb
Lf

= 2.276%

FingerWidth/Spacing
Thefingerwidthcalculationissimilartothebuswidthcalculation,buttakesinto
accountthefingerspacing.Thewidthisoptimizedbyusingthesquarerootofelectricfieldover
maxpowervoltage,multipliedproportionallytotheareaoftheemitterlayerthatisfeeding
currenttoeachfinger[3].Usingthedatasheet,weselectedtheminimumfeaturesizeforthe
finger,30m.

W f = .003cm = S Lf

AgJ max
3V max

Thisequality,withourselectedfingerwidthpluggedin,allowsustofindtheappropriatefinger
spacing.ThevalueweobtainedisS=0.264cm.

Powerlossinthefingers
Resistive:
Weusethesametechniquetofindtheresistivefingerlossaswedidforthebus,
butthistimeaccountingforfingerlengthandwidth[3].

pfingerr =

L2f AgJ maxS

mV maxW f

= 1.369%

Shadowing:
Percentageofenergylosttoshadowinginthefingersistheratiooffingerwidth
tofingerspacing[3].

pfingersh =

Wf
S

= 1.136%

LossesinN+Layer
Lossesintheemitterlayercanbefoundbasedonthefilmsresistivity,whichis
significantlyhigherthanthatofsilversoitwillconsumemorepowerthanthefingers.The
percentoflossisequaltotheratioofpowerinthelayertototalpowergenerated[3].

pN+ =

N +S2J max
12V max

=3.011%

Totallingalllosses
Addingthesealltogetherwillapproximatethepercentageoftotalpowerlostdueto
collectingandtransportingthegeneratedpowerfromtheemitterlayertothesolarcellcontacts.
Aswediscovered,ourdesignjustfitsintothelimitof10%theoreticalloss.Thefinaloutput
2
poweris18.1mW/cm
.

ptotal = pbusr + pbussh + pfingerr + pfingersh + pN+ =10%

Thesevaluesarebrokendowninfigure6andequatedtoactualpowerloss.

Numberoffingers
Sincewefound,above,thefingerwidthandspacing,thenumberoffingersthatcanfiton
theboardwillbethetotalwidthdividedbythespacethateachfingerrequired.

Nf =

10cm
W f +S

= 37F ingers

Thefigurebelowshowsthefinalsolarcelldesignanditsdimensions.
Fig.5

Fig.6

SolarCellDimensions

PowerLoss

FingerLength

2.5cm

BusResistance

0.455mW

BusLength

10cm

BusShadowing

0.455mW

FingerWidth

30m

EmitterLayer

0.602mW

BusWidth

569m

FingerResistance

0.274mW

FingerSpacing

2.64mm

FingerShadowing

0.227mW

Numberof
Fingers

37

Total

2mW=10%

Fabrication:
Whenitcomestoprintingthebusbarsandfingers,therearedifferenttechniques
availabletouse.Inmanytechniques,thesamestyleofmachineisusedwherethesolarcellsare
carriedtotheprinterbyawalkingbeamorconveyorbelt.Thesiliconsolarcellisthenslid
underneaththeprintersscreenorstencilthatismountedtoaframesoitdoesnotmove.
Stencilswereoriginallyusedtoprintthefingersandbusbarsbyfillingallthespace
exceptwherethefingersandbusbarswereintendedtobeonthesolarcell.Althoughstencil
printingwascreatedfirst,printingwithastencilbecameproblematicwhenitwasnecessaryto
printanareathatencirclesanareathatdidnotneedink.Anexampleofthisisprintingarounda
circle.Theinnercirclehadtobeconnectedtotheotherpartofthestencilinsomeway.
Tosolvethisproblem,wirewasusedtoconnecttheinnerpartstogettheenclosedpartof
thestencilback.Thenthemeshorscreentechniquewascreatedbyhavingeverypieceofthe
stencilattachedbyaveryfinewirescreen.Thisscreentechniqueiswhatismostcommonlyused
andisthemostavailablechoicetousewhenfabricatingasolarcell.

Thereisasmallgapbetweenthesiliconsolarcellandthescreencalledthesnapoff
distance[5].Acertainamountofinkisplacedontothescreenandtheprinterhasasqueegeethat
firstgoesovertheentirescreen,asshownaboveinfigure7[1],withnopressureatfirstto
spreadtheinkevenlyandtofillinthegapsofthescreen.Thenthesqueegeegoesoverthescreen
asecondtimewithaspecificamountofpressureandspeed.Thepressurecausesthescreento
bendandtouchthesolarcellonlyatthespecificlocationofthesqueegee.Oncethesqueegee
moveson,thescreensnapsoffofthesolarcellandleavestheinkonthesolarcell.
Thetypeandsizeofthescreenisdecidedbywhattypeofinkisused.Thisdecisionrelies
onwhattypeofinkfitstheneededspecifications.Forthefrontfingersandbusbarsofasolar
cell,alowcontactresistance,highconductivity,smalllineresolution,solderability,andthe
abilityofadhesiontothesolarcellareimportantfactors[5].

Thereisachoiceoftwodifferenttypesofink:pasteorhotmeltpaste.Pasteinkisliquid
atroomtemperature,soitneedstobefiredonceitisprinted.Thisinkcomesatdifferent
viscositiesandthinnermaybeaddedtoit.Thisallowseasyapplicationfortheprinter,butitputs
alimitonthethicknessofthefingersandbusbars.Therearecertaintypesofpastesthatcanbe
stackedorbeprintedontopofdriedlines,whichiscalleddoubleprintedcontactlines,asshown
aboveinfigure8[6].Doublelineprintinghasmanyadvantages,suchascausingahigheraspect
ratioandreducingshadowingwhilekeepingtheseriesresistancelow.Theproblemwithdouble
lineprintingisthatthesecondfingerscouldbeoffsetfromthefirstfingers.Thankstohigh
resolutioncameras,newsoftwarecodes,andadvancedilluminationsystemstheoffsetcanbe
minimizeddowntolessthantenmicrometers[6].
Hotmeltpasteissolidatroomtemperature,soitisnotnecessarytousefiretodry.The
mainproblemforthistypeofinkisthateverypartoftheprinterthathandlestheinkwouldhave
tobeheated,includingthescreenandsqueegeeinparticular[7].Theinkisthick,soitalsohasa
largerlineresolutionwhichalsoincreasestheshadowingfromthefingersandbusbars.Withthe
inksthickness,italsohasahighfingerthickness,soitgivesahighaspectratio.Althoughhot
melthasmanyappealingaspects,therearemanyuncertaintiesoftheaccessibilityofheated
screenprintersandscreens.Forthisreason,thepasteinkthatcanbeprinteddoublelinediswhat
wouldbethemostidealandhavethemostcompetitivepricing.

Themetaltypethatisusedintheinkhasalargeeffectontheresistanceofthebusbars
andthefingers.Copperandsilverbothhaveveryhighconductivities,butwiththehigher
conductivityandnotbeingabletofindanycopperinkavailableforpurchase,silverwas
selected.Therearemanydifferentoptionsfortypesofsilverinktouse,asshowninfigure9[8]
[9][10][11][12],butthereisonethatisabletouseamuchthinnerlineresolutionwhilestill
havingahighconductivityafteritisfired.Itisalsosolderableandhasthefastestprintingspeed.
Fig.9
Typeofink

Solamet

Line

Resistivity

Typeof

Printing Firing

Drying

Solder

Resolution

(m/sq/10

Metal

Speed

Temp.

Temp.

Ability

(m)

m)

mm/sec

()

()

5080

<5

150250 800

170

Ag

PV17A
Solamet

230
5080

<5

Ag

150250 800

PV17D
Solamet

50100

<5

Ag

150250 800

PV3N2

Yes

170

Yes

230
3050

<5

Ag

200300 800

PV19A
Solamet

170
230

PV17F
Solamet

Yes

170

Yes

230
4070

<5

Ag/Al

150

700

170

Yes

230

TheDupontSolametPV19Aworksbestwithahighopenratioscreenwithheavy
calendar.Thisscreenhelpshaveaminimumlineresolution[11].Oncethefirstsetoffingersand
busbarsareprintedontothesolarcell,thesolarcellismovedtoadryerfordrying.Thecellwill
bedriedfortenminutesinaverticaldryer,asshowninfigure10[1],orforoneminuteinan

infraredbeltdryer.Afterdryingthesolarcell,itissenttoanotherprintersothesecondsetof
fingerscanbeprinted,sothecellwillbedoublelined.Thenthesolarcellissenttothefiring
furnace,asshowninfigure11[13].Theinkisarapidfiringinkwhichallowsittobefiredata
temperatureof800C,tomaximizetheelectricalperformance,foraspecifictimethatdepends
onthesolarcellthicknessandtexturing.

Conclusion

Throughoutthispaper,wehavetakengivenspecificationsanddesignedasolarcellgrid
andfabricationtechniquewithahighaspectration,minimumshading,andalowseries
resistance.Usingthegivenspecificationsandthevaluesgivenbytheinksdatasheetsuchasthe
inksresistivity,lineresolution,dryingtemperaturesandfiringprocess,wewereabletocalculate
theapproximatepowerlossduetotheemitterlayerresistance,shadowing,fingerresistance,and
busresistancewhileusingthemostcostefficientandproductavailabilityprocess.Thisresistive
losswascalculatedandfoundtobethemaximumamountoflosstokeepthepowerlossofthe
solarcellequaltothemaximumamountallowedandtostillmeettheneededspecifications.
Onepointthatmustbeacknowledgedisthefactthatallofthecalculationsand
estimationswemadewerebasedonidealconditionsofthematerialsinourcell.Ifthisdesign
wasactuallymanufactured,itislikelythattheefficiencywouldhaveamarginoferror,meaning
thatitwouldperformslightlybelowthetheoreticalprediction.Forexample,thefingersand
bussesmaybeprintedwithslightlyroundedcorners,whichwouldchangetheamountofpower
collection.This,amongotherminorinconsistencies,willyieldsomeamountofdeviationwhich
wehavedecidedisnegligible.
Overall,wewereabletogetalookinsidetheperspectiveofengineerswhodesignand
optimizesolarcells.Wegainedexperienceworkingwithafewofthedesigntechniquesthatare
beingusedtoconstantlyimproveefficiency.Thischanginglevelofefficiencycanbevery
tediousandrequirealotofworkforevensmallimprovements,butitiscrucialtothefutureof
ourplanetsenergyinfrastructurethatsolarpowercontinuestogrow.

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