Renewable Energy, Vol.5, Part I, pp.

103-106, 1994
Elsevier Science Lid
Pergamon Printed in Greet Britain
CRYSTALLINE SILICON SOLAR CELLS 0960-14slt94~7.00+o.oo

Roger VAN OVERSTRAETEN

IMEC, Leuven, Belgium

1. INTRODUCTION

Crystalline silicon is the most widely used semiconductor material for photovoltaic
(PV) conversion. Close to 80 % of all PV modules are crystalline silicon based.
Although the technology is mature with respect to production yield and with respect
to reliability, there is still a large potential in increasing the efficiency and in
reducing the cost.
The purpose of this paper is on the one hand to discuss the status of crystalline
silicon modules and on the other hand the potential on efficiency and on cost.

2. CRYSTALLINE SILICON MATERIAL

Crystalline silicon has many advantages :

- the large availability of silicon

- the well established industry, because of the micro-electronic applications

- the stability and the long lifetime of the solar cells
- the relative simplicity of the processing

Two kinds of crystalline silicon are used :

- monocrystalline
- multicrystalline

Monocrystalline silicon can be obtained by float zone (F.Z.) growth or by

Czochralsky (C.Z.) growth. Except for its use in very high efficient cells,
manufactured in the laboratory, the F.Z. wafers are not used for solar cells.
The multicrystalline fabrication techniques can be subdivided in three groups :
casting. It is a low cost technique because of the high throughput.
Methods for continuous casting me investigated.
directional solidification. It gives a slightly higher efficiency.
electromagnetic casting. The advantages are: no melt contamination and no
crucible wear out. This technique also has a potentially high throughput.
Most of the silicon solar cells today are made from reclaimed material from the
micro-electronics industry. This situation may continue for a number of years. At
the longer term, this feed stock will have to be replaced by solar grade silicon with a
cost target of 5-10 $/kg.
Multi-wire saw cutting is now the standard technique. A pitch (slice thickness +
kerf loss) of less than 380 micron becomes possible.

3. LABORATORY CELLS

Laboratory cells are important because they aim for the highest possible efficiency
and as such they can be used as a guide to improve the efficiency of industrial
processes.

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