Improvement of industrial phosphorus diffused emitters and impact on solar cell efficiencies

In this study, we investigate the importance of the minority carrier lifetime (τ_p0) and surface recombination velocity (SRV) of industrial n-type emitters in improving emitter performance and improving solar cell efficiency. When emitters with higher τ_p0 values are applied to Al-BSF and PERC solar cells separately, they show slightly different responses to the increase in τ_p0. Simulation results indicate that PERC solar cells receive a larger efficiency enhancement with the same increase in τ_p0 than that for Al-BSF cells. This is due to the fact that emitter recombination can be a major contributor to efficiency loss for solar cell structures like PERC where the rear surface is well passivated by dielectric stacks. Additionally, LDSE cells have a stronger dependence on the surface passivation quality, especially for the PERC structure.