Texturing of polycrystalline silicon

A wet isotropic etching technique (''tubs'') has been developed for texturing polycrystalline silicon solar cells. Reflection losses are reduced by using total internal reflection from a glass encapsulant layer. The texture developed shows excellent reflection results, equivalent to microgrooves or inverted pyramids on encapsulated single crystal substrates. Light trapping properties are superior to these anisotropic etching techniques. The texturing technique developed is suitable for thin substrates where the superior light trapping properties will be most beneficial.