On-line manufacturing of Si solar cells compatible with high speed Si-ribbon growth

For the terrestrial photovoltaic application in the gigawatt range new on-line processing steps are necessary. Applying a new production process for the pn-junction large area (10 cm x 10 cm) mono-crystalline solar cells have achieved conversion efficiencies of 13% and polycrystalline S-Web solar cells efficiencies of more than 10%. With a new grid contact preparation technique solar cells of monocrystalline wafers achieved 12,4% efficiency and S-Web solar cells achieved up to 8%. Both processes can be done in a conventional production line and include a reasonable potential of improving the solar cell quality and cost. The methods and the results are discussed in detail.