Very thin film crystalline silicon solar cells on glass substrate fabricated at low temperature

The performances of thin-film poly-Si solar cells with a thickness of less than 5 /spl mu/m on a glass substrate have been investigated. The cell of glass/back reflector/n-i-p-type Si/ITO is well characterized by the structure of naturally surface texture and enhanced absorption with a back reflector (STAR), where the active i-type poly-Si laser was fabricated by plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at low temperature. The cell with a thickness of 2.0 /spl mu/m demonstrated an intrinsic efficiency of 10.7% (aperture 10.1%), the open-circuit voltage of 0.539 V and the short current density of 25.8 mA/cm/sup 2/ as independently confirmed by Japan Quality Assurance, which shows the no clear light-induced degradation. The optical and transport properties of poly Si cells are summarized.