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Interrupted back junction (IBJ) solar cells on very thin substrates.
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Although solar cell technology is becoming increasingly popular, the costs are still its main disadvantage compared to classic electricity production technologies for now. Reducing the cost of solar cells can be done by using less silicon and of course by providing higher conversion efficiencies.
In this PhD, research is done on highly efficient interrupted back junction (IBJ) solar cells. In classic solar cells the main losses are shadow losses introduced by the front contact grid. In IBJ solar cells, all the contacts are at the rear, which is potentially more efficient when the cell structure is adapted. However all charge carriers having to diffuse to the rear introduces some restrictions, like the need for high diffusion lengths of the minority charge carriers (L) compared to the thickness of the cell (W), generally L/W>3. As the photovoltaic industry is moving to thinner wafers to minimize the use of high purity silicon, this seems to be ideal for IBJ solar cells. Thinner wafers introduce higher demands onto surface passivation and all the contacts together with the junction at the rear offers new challenges in making contacts in a more efficient way.
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ROBBELEIN JO
Faculty of Engineering
Doctoral Programme in Engineering
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Project number:
3E090339
Duration of the project:
05.02.2007 - 05.02.2011
Funded research
Nederlands
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