Low Recombination Firing-Through Al Paste for N-Type Solar Cell with Boron Emitter

A kind of low recombination firing-through screen-printing aluminum (Al) paste is proposed in this work to be used for a boron-diffused N-type solar cell front side metallization. A front side fire-through contact (FTC) approach has been carried out for the formation of local contacts for a front surface passivated solar cell. With a low contact resistivity (ρ_c) of 1.0 mΩ·cm², good ohmic contact between the boron-doped front surface of the silicon sample and the Al paste was realized. To obtain a good energy conversion efficiency, a balance can be achieved between the open circuit voltage (V_oc) and contact resistivity (ρ_c) of the cell by combining suitable Al powders and appropriate additives. The detailed micro-contact difference in Si/metallization between the firing-through Al paste and silver-aluminum (Ag-Al) paste was analyzed. The dark saturation current density beneath the metal contact (J_{0, metal}) of the Si/metallization region using our firing-through Al paste was discussed, which was proven to be 61% lower than using Ag-Al paste. The pseudo energy conversion efficiency of the cell using Al paste measured by Suns-V_OC was also higher than using Ag-Al paste. The role of Al paste in low surface metal recombination is discussed. The utilization of this new kind of Al paste was much cheaper and more convenient, compared to the traditional process using Ag or Ag-Al paste.