Efficiency potential of thin film polycrystalline silicon solar cells by silane-gas-free process using aluminum-induced-crystallization

Analyzing the performance of thin film polycrystalline silicon solar cells fabricated by silane-gas-free process including the aluminum-induced-crystallization technique by using the device simulation program "PC1D", we have estimated the efficiency of them. In addition, we have discussed the issues to make the silane-gas-free process practical. In the cell fabrication by silane-gas-free process, segregation of impurity atoms at the grain boundaries of the Si film is one of the serious problems. By suppressing the impurity inclusion and optimizing the cell parameters, the simulated efficiency is to be about 13% in single-junction cells. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.