Development and Characterization of Inkjet-Printed Poly-Si Passivating Contacts for Silicon Solar Cells
type: CreativeWork
description: Photovoltaic (PV) technology leads the way among renewable energy options, as silicon_based solar cells dominating the market. A key advancement in this domain is the implementation of polycrystalline silicon (poly_Si) passivating contacts, which consist of a doped poly_Si layer and an ultra_thin SiOx layer. This structure has driven the efficiency of crystalline silicon (c_Si) solar cells to exceed 26%. Further improvements can be achieved by incorporating localized poly_Si passivating contacts, such as in interdigitated back contact (IBC) structures. Despite their promise, the implementation of such localized contacts is currently limited by the complexity and cost of the required patterning processes, posing a barrier to large_scale manufacturing and commercial deployment. This thesis introduces a maskless, scalable and cost_effective inkjet printing technique to fabricate both localized n_ and p_type poly_Si passivating contacts. In the first part of this thesis, n_type poly_Si passivating contacts were fabricated using an inkjet printer with a phosphorus dopant ink. By optimizing the printing parameters and annealing conditions, uniform and effective doping was achieved, resulting in excellent passivation quality with an implied open_circuit voltage (iVoc) of 729 mV and a contact resistivity of 5.4 mohm.cm2 on full_area printed samples. Micro_photoluminescence (uPL) mapping confirmed enhanced PL emissions in a 75 um_wide printed line. The second phase extended the process to p_type passivating contacts using inkjet printing. A pre_oxidation step was introduced to prevent unintended doping in unprinted regions. This approach achieved a promising iVoc of 718 mV and a contact resistivity of 6.1 mohm.cm2. Furthermore, building on these developments, the co_annealing of phosphorus_ and boron_printed lines with feature sizes down to 60 um was demonstrated, highlighting the potential of fabricating tunnel oxide passivated contact back contact (TBC) cells using inkjet …
abstract: Photovoltaic (PV) technology leads the way among renewable energy options, as silicon_based solar cells dominating the market. A key advancement in this domain is the implementation of polycrystalline silicon (poly_Si) passivating contacts, which consist of a doped poly_Si layer and an ultra_thin SiOx layer. This structure has driven the efficiency of crystalline silicon (c_Si) solar cells to exceed 26%. Further improvements can be achieved by incorporating localized poly_Si passivating contacts, such as in interdigitated back contact (IBC) structures. Despite their promise, the implementation of such localized contacts is currently limited by the complexity and cost of the required patterning processes, posing a barrier to large_scale manufacturing and commercial deployment. This thesis introduces a maskless, scalable and cost_effective inkjet printing technique to fabricate both localized n_ and p_type poly_Si passivating contacts. In the first part of this thesis, n_type poly_Si passivating contacts were fabricated using an inkjet printer with a phosphorus dopant ink. By optimizing the printing parameters and annealing conditions, uniform and effective doping was achieved, resulting in excellent passivation quality with an implied open_circuit voltage (iVoc) of 729 mV and a contact resistivity of 5.4 mohm.cm2 on full_area printed samples. Micro_photoluminescence (uPL) mapping confirmed enhanced PL emissions in a 75 um_wide printed line. The second phase extended the process to p_type passivating contacts using inkjet printing. A pre_oxidation step was introduced to prevent unintended doping in unprinted regions. This approach achieved a promising iVoc of 718 mV and a contact resistivity of 6.1 mohm.cm2. Furthermore, building on these developments, the co_annealing of phosphorus_ and boron_printed lines with feature sizes down to 60 um was demonstrated, highlighting the potential of fabricating tunnel oxide passivated contact back contact (TBC) cells using inkjet …
author: Wang, Jiali
language: en_AU
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:07:45Z
provider: Australian Catholic University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Australian Catholic University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/1885/733794330