Cz-Silicon Produced from Solar-Grade and Recycled Materials. Part II: Investigating Performances of Solar Cell Produced from Solar-Grade Cz-Silicon

This paper is the second of two, investigating the properties of P-type Cz-silicon materials and solar cells produced with recycled silicon and Elkem Solar Silicon (ESS) materials. While the focus on the first work was on the bulk properties and grown defects of the material, the current study focuses on the solar cell performances. In the processing of the solar cells, the phosphorous diffusion process was optimized to improve the bulk properties and thus to maximize the final solar cell characteristics. Results from the characterization of material defects suggest that the performances of the experimental ingots are limited by the activated grown-in defects, which should be strictly controlled during crystal growth and solar cell processing. The solar cells produced from the investigated ingots showed efficiency values up to 18.5 pct and fill factor values up to 79 pct, comparable to conventional silicon produced from poly silicon. Solar cells produced from mixed recycled and ESS material exhibit a better performance than 100 pct recycled material. Boron and oxygen concentration levels and net doping level showed a concurrent effect on light-induced degradation (LID). Appropriate compensation was finally demonstrated to be an efficient way to improve solar cells efficiency of Cz-silicon produced from recycled silicon, even though higher dopant concentration incurred relatively faster LID.