63rd Annual Gaseous Electronics Conference and 7th International Conference on Reactive Plasmas
Volume 55, Number 7
Monday–Friday, October 4–8, 2010;
Paris, France
Session GW: Plenary Session
8:30 AM–10:00 AM,
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Room: Grand Amphitheatre
Chair: Masaru Hori, Nagoya University
Abstract ID: BAPS.2010.GEC.GW.1
Abstract: GW.00001 : Thin Film Silicon Solar Cells and Modules Deposited by PECVD: From R{\&}D Lab Developments to Large-Area Production Tools
8:30 AM–9:15 AM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
Ulrich Kroll
(Oerlikon Solar-Lab, Rue du Puits-Godet 12a, CH-2000 Neuch\^atel)
Up-scaling of thin film silicon solar cells to industrial commercial
products of over 1 m$^{2}$ module area is a highly challenging
task. Hereby,
the transfer of high efficiency device results obtained in small
area
research-type equipments to large area high performance R{\&}D
and high
productivity mass fabrication equipment are important issues
needed to be
solved. Especially the PECVD equipment in the thin film
production line is
one of the most important key elements to bring the module
efficiency up and
to reduce manufacturing costs. Oerlikon Solar uses a plasma
excitation
frequency of 40.68 MHz instead of the industrial standard
frequency of 13.56
MHz for the amorphous and microcrystalline thin film silicon
deposition due
to the increased deposition rate and obtain ``softer'' plasma
processes.
In the first step, silicon deposition processes are developed and
optimized
in smaller R{\&}D KAI M systems. A stabilized record cell
efficiency of
10.09{\%} has been obtained for a single-junction amorphous
silicon solar
cell device and independently confirmed by NREL (Golden, USA).
Furthermore,
a ``Micromorph'' (amorphous/microcrystalline silicon) tandem cell
having a
stabilized efficiency of 11.3{\%} has been manufactured. Both
latter devices
have been deposited in small R{\&}D KAI M systems using our LPCVD
ZnO as
front and back contact TCO. In the second step these process
parameters are
then transferred to industrial size PECVD reactors of 1.4 m$^{2}$
(KAI-1200).
Following this strategy we achieved recently for amorphous
silicon p-i-n
single-junction and ``Micromorph'' tandems 1.4 m$^{2}$ R{\&}D
modules having
initial aperture efficiencies of 10.0{\%} respectively 11.0 {\%}.
These
remarkable efficiencies clearly demonstrate the high potential of
the PECVD
KAI systems.
Based on these results, Oerlikon Solar as an equipment
manufacturer is
installing production facilities for amorphous silicon and
``Micromorph'' PV
modules above 450 MW capacities for all its clients worldwide.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2010.GEC.GW.1