Recent advances in polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells on glass at UNSW

• Main Authors: Aberle, A.G., Widenborg, P.I., Song, D., Straub, A., Terry, M.L., Walsh, T., Sproul, A., Campbell, P., Inns, D., Beilby, B., Griffin, M., Weber, J., Huang, Y., Kunz, O., Gebs, R., Martin-Brune, F., Barroux, V., Wenham, S.H.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Costs; Crystallization; Glass; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Semiconductor thin films; Silicon; Solar power generation; Transistors; Voltage
• ISSN: 0160-8371
• DOI: 10.1109/PVSC.2005.1488272

Polycrystalline Si (pc-Si) thin-film solar cells on glass are a very promising approach for lowering the cost of photovoltaic solar electricity. This paper reports on the status of three distinctly different pc-Si thin-film solar cells on glass under development at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The cells are termed EVA, ALICE and ALICIA, are less than 3 microns thick, and are made by vacuum evaporation, a fast and inexpensive Si deposition method. EVA cells are made on non-seeded glass, whereas ALICE and ALICIA are both made on a thin large-grained pc-Si seed layer formed on glass by metal-induced crystallisation. All three solar cells seem to be capable of voltages of over 500 mV and, owing to their potentially inexpensive and scalable fabrication process, have significant industrial appeal.