Microcrystalline silicon thin film solar modules on glass

We developed microcrystalline silicon (mu c-Si:H) thin film solar modules on textured ZnO-coated glass. The single junction (p-i-n) cell structure was prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) at substrate temperatures below 250 degrees C. Front ZnO and back contacts were prepared by sputtering. A process for the monolithic series connection of mu c-Si:H cells by laser scribing was developed. These microcrystalline p-i-n modules showed aperture area efficiencies up to 8.3% and 7.3% on aperture areas of 64 and 676 cm(2), respectively. The temperature coefficient of the efficiency was -0.4%/K. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved