Advanced hydrogenation of screen-printed p-type monocrystalline silicon solar cells

The application of the novel solar energy is one of the possible solutions for satisfying human’s increasing demand for energy. Since the invention of the first photovoltaic device by Edmond Becquerel in 1839, more than 100 years have passed and the development of solar cells keeps changing day to day. Different technologies emerged to push the power conversion efficiency of solar cells to more than 50% with multi-junction solar cells in the laboratory. While in the solar industry, the largest portion of the market is occupied by silicon solar cells including the n-type silicon solar cells and the p-type silicon solar cells. The silicon solar cells can also be divided into the monocrystalline silicon solar cells and the multicrystalline silicon solar cells depending on the silicon type. The n-type solar cells often have a higher capability of energy conversion but it is more expensive. Therefore, in market, p-type solar cells, which cost less, dominate the solar market with generally power conversion efficiency of 20%. Before the mid of the 1980s, 20% was always a great obstacle for researchers to improve the efficiency of solar cells. This situation was not changed until the technology of surface passivation was developed in 1985 by researchers of The University of New South Wales(UNSW). The surface passivation helps increase the lifetime of minority carriers and limits the recombination so the efficiency of solar cells maintains. However, as the silicon wafers get thinner, which crucially influences the lifetime of the minor carriers, traditional passivation is not enough. In this dissertation, an advanced hydrogenation technique is introduced to passivate the screen-printed p-type monocrystalline silicon solar cells, which provides outstanding performance in maintaining the solar cell efficiency after the light soaking process. Solar modules were also made to test the consistency of the advanced hydrogenation on the module level and measurement results also showed the effectiveness of the advanced hydrogenation.Master of Science (Electronics