Combined Effects of Pyramid-Like Structures and Antireflection Coating on Si Solar Cell Efficiency

We developed a novel process for synthesizing Si solar cells with improved efficiencies. The process involved the formation of pyramid-like structures on the Si substrate and the deposition and subsequent thermal annealing of an antireflection coating. The process consisted of three main stages. First, pyramid-like structures were textured on the Si substrate by reactive ion etching and subsequently etched using a mixture of HF, HNO3, and deionized water for 300 s. Next, an antireflection coating was deposited on the substrate and was subsequently thermally annealed in a furnace in a N2 atmosphere. After the annealing process, the minority carrier lifetime increased by approximately 40 μs. Further, because of the increase in the minority carrier lifetime and the uniform doping of the substrate, the leakage current decreased. As a result, the efficiency of resulting solar cell increased to 17.24%, in contrast to that of the reference cell, which was only 15.89%. Thus, uniform doping and the thermal annealing of the antireflective coating improved solar cell efficiency.