High-efficiency, point-contact silicon solar cells for Fresnel lens concentrator modules
- 30 December 2002
- conference paper
- Published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Abstract
Point-contact silicon solar cells have been developed for Fresnel lens concentrator modules. The cells have an area of 1.21 cm 2 on a 12×12 mm die. The design incident flux on the cell is 22.3 W/cm 2 . A new cell design and process have been developed to insure a high efficiency and a large fabrication yield, and to eliminate hazardous materials and pyrophoric gases. The new process is very safe and benign to the environment. Also, a new passivation technique for the front surface has been discovered which makes the point-contact cell fully stable under steady-state concentrated sunlight. No degradation has been observed so far after more than 200 days of exposure behind Fresnel lenses providing an incident power density of 36 W/cm 2 . An improved anti-reflection coating and an improved light trapping, giving an average effective number of passes of the infra-red light greater than 25, are part of the developments. The best cell shows an efficiency of 26% under 100 suns (AM1.5D, 25°C). The typical cell efficiency is greater than 25% at 200 suns. The cells are easily solderable due to a double-level metallization and three large copper pads. The cells are now produced in large quantities in a pilot line located in a Class 100 clean room which has a capacity of 7.5 MW per year of concentrator solar cells Author(s) Verlinden, P.J. SunPower Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, USA Swanson, R.M. ; Sinton, R.A. ; Crane, R.A. ; Tilford, C. ; Perkins, J. ; Garrison, K.Keywords
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