Solar cell Materials and

Semiconductor
Materials for Solar Cell

• Electrons in metals(copper)

Electron is in a crystal,
not in vacuum
 scattering

energy
momentum
Materials for Solar Cell

• Electrons in semiconductors

Cu Si GaAs
What is different
to copper?
energy

energy

momentum momentum
Materials for Solar Cell

• Electrons in semiconductors

Cu Si GaAs
What is different
to copper?
energy

energy
Semiconductors
have a gap

momentum momentum
Materials for Solar Cell

• Electrons in semiconductors

Si GaAs

Gap = electrons cannot

have a range of

energy
energy

energy
energy

space momentum space

energy-space diagram energy-momentum diagram
Materials for Solar Cell

• Electrons in insulators

KCl

They have a
larger gap than
semiconductor
energy

energy

momentum space
Materials for Solar Cell

• Excitation and relaxation of electron in metals

Cu
10 -14 s 10 -12 s

energy

energy
energy

space space

excitation by light relaxation to heat

momentum
Materials for Solar Cell

• Excitation and relaxation of electron in semiconductors

Si
10 -14 s 10 -12 s 10 -3 s
energy

space space space

excitation by light relaxation to heat recombination to heat,
radiation etc.

momentum
Materials for Solar Cell

• What type of material is suitable for solar cells?

Materials for solar cell

• Efficiency limit
Materials for solar cells

• Efficiency limit
Efficiency Limit of Silicon Solar Cell
Efficiency Limit of Silicon Solar Cell
Efficiency Limit of Silicon Solar Cell

AM1.5g, 100mW/cm2, 25°C

Basics of Semiconductor
Silicon Semiconductor

• Second most abundant element

• group IV and atomic number of 14
• Energy gap= 1.12 eV
• Dielectric constant= 11.9
• Melting temperature= 1415 °C
• of the periodic table
• a combination of group III and group V (called III-V
semiconductors)
• Most commonly used semiconductor material
Thermal Generation of Electron and Holes
Thermal Generation of Electron and Holes
Intrinsic Carrier Concentration
Doping

 Replacement of Si atoms by atoms from group V (donor)

𝐷0 ↔ 𝐷+ + 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛 → 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑛 − 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 : 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑃

𝐷0 ↔ 𝐷− + ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 → 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑝 − 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 : 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝐵
Doping
Doping
Doping
Doping- Conductivity
Doping- Mobility
Generation & Recombination
Carrier Life Time 𝝉𝒏 , 𝝉𝒑

 Generation / Recombination
Diffusion Length

 Diffusion Length, (m)

𝑘𝑇
𝐿𝑛 = 𝐷𝑛 𝜏𝑛 = 𝜇𝑛 𝜏𝑛
𝑞

𝑘𝑇
𝐿𝑝 = 𝐷𝑝 𝜏𝑝 = 𝜇𝑝 𝜏𝑝
𝑞

𝜏𝑛 , 𝜏𝑝 = 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝜇𝑛 , 𝜇𝑝 = 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦
Diffusion Current

 the driving force : a concentration gradient

Optical Properties – Absorption Coefficient
Optical Properties – Penetration Depth
Semiconductor Homojunctions

 In 1947, W. Shockley transferred the

concept of the space-charge region to a
pn-homojunction (based on Ge)

 In 1956, he received (together with W.

Brattain and J. Bardeen) the Nobel prize
‘for their research on semiconductors and
their discovery of the transistor effect’
Semiconductor Homojunctions
Semiconductor Homojunctions
How Does a Solar Cell Work?

 Basic principle

 Photons with an energy ≥ 𝐸𝐺 are

absorbed
 Electron/hole pairs are generated
 Minority carriers diffuse towards the pn-
junction
 Separation of electrons and holes at the
pn -junction
Industrial Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell
Industrial Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell
 Antireflection (AR) coating
Industrial Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell
 Antireflection (AR) coating
Industrial Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell
 Antireflection (AR) coating
Industrial Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell
 Back surface field (BSF)
Industrial Crystalline Silicon Solar Cell
 Former world record silicon solar cell

 Passivated Emitter, rear Locally-diffused (PERL)

 Efficiency (𝜂) of 25.0 %
Basics of a PN-Junction Solar Cell
Basics of a PN-Junction Solar Cell
Current-Voltage Characteristic in the Dark
Current-Voltage Characteristic under Illumination
Current-Voltage Characteristic under Illumination
Current-Voltage Characteristic under Illumination
Current-Voltage Characteristic under Illumination
Current-Voltage Characteristic under Illumination
Current-Voltage Characteristic – Standard Conditions
Current-Voltage Characteristic – Standard Conditions
IV-Characteristic under Illumination
IV-Characteristic under Illumination- Temperature Dependence
IV-Characteristic under Illumination
 Equivalent circuit (forward bias)
IV-Characteristic under Illumination
 Equivalent circuit (forward bias)
IV-Characteristic under Illumination
 Equivalent circuit (forward bias) – series resistance Rs
IV-Characteristic under Illumination
 Influence of Rs and Rsh
IV-Characteristic under Illumination
 Influence of series resistance (Rs)
IV-Characteristic under Illumination
 Influence of shunt resistance (Rsh)
Silicon Production & Multi-Si Wafer
 Silicon production

• From silicon dioxide to polycrystalline silicon

Production of
Silicon dioxide metallurgical grade
silicon

Purification Production of
(trichlorosilane polycrystalline
process) silicon
 Multi-Si wafer production

• From solar grade silicon to a multi-Si ingot

 Multi-Si wafer production
 Directional Solidification (Bridgman technique)
 Multi-Si wafer production
 From a multi-Si ingot to a multi-Si wafer
 Multi-Si wafer production
 Trend for minimum as-cut wafer thickness and cell thickness
 Multi-Si wafer production
 Defects at grain boundaries are positively charged
 Multi-Si wafer production

• Grain boundaries
multi-Si wafer feature a columnar structure of the grains
Silicon Wafer Production
Mono-Si Wafer
Czochralski (CZ) Silicon

 Si seed crystal is dipped into the Si melt

 the growing crystal is pulled upwards

 large diameter wafer can be produced

Czochralski (CZ) Silicon

 Production equipment
Float-Zone (FZ) Silicon

local melting zone is pulled from one end to the

other
(starting from the seed crystal)

solubility of impurities in the melt is higher than in

the solid

impurities are accumulated in the melt

low concentration of C and O

Mono- and Poly-Crystalline Si wafers