Sunpower Corporation

Maxeon Solar Pte. Ltd.

Staffan Westerberg

David D Smith

Peter John Cousins

Gabriel Harley

Seung Bum Rim

Taiqing Qiu

Venkatasubramani Balu

Timothy Weidman

Kieran Mark Tracy

Michael C Johnson

Michael Cudzinovic

Scott Harrington

Alejandro Levander

Florito Dennis Tingchuy Vicente

Princess Carmi Tomada

Jemellee Guiao

Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions with differentiated P-type and N-type architectures and incorporating a multi-purpose passivation and contact layer, and resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a solar cell includes a substrate having a light-receiving surface and a back surface. A P-type emitter region is disposed on the back surface of the substrate. An N-type emitter region is disposed in a trench formed in the back surface of the substrate. An N-type passivation layer is disposed on the N-type emitter region. A first conductive contact structure is electrically connected to the P-type emitter region. A second conductive contact structure is electrically connected to the N-type emitter region and is in direct contact with the N-type passivation layer.

Solar cell emitter region fabrication with differentiated p-type and n-type architectures and incorporating a multi-purpose passivation and contact layer

Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions with differentiated P-type and N-type region architectures, and resulting solar cells, are described. In an example a solar cell includes a first emitter region of a first conductivity type disposed on a first dielectric region, the first dielectric region disposed on a surface of a substrate. A second dielectric region is disposed laterally adjacent to the first and second emitter region. The second emitter region of a second, different, conductivity type is disposed on a third dielectric region, the third dielectric region disposed on the surface of the substrate, over the second dielectric region, and partially over the first emitter region. A first metal foil is disposed over the first emitter region. A second metal foil is disposed over the second emitter region.

Metallization of solar cells with differentiated p-type and n-type region architectures

Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions with differentiated P-type and N-type architectures and incorporating dotted diffusion, and resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a solar cell includes a substrate having a light-receiving surface and a back surface. A first polycrystalline silicon emitter region of a first conductivity type is disposed on a first thin dielectric layer disposed on the back surface of the substrate. A second polycrystalline silicon emitter region of a second, different, conductivity type is disposed on a second thin dielectric layer disposed in a plurality of non-continuous trenches in the back surface of the substrate.

Solar cell emitter region fabrication with differentiated P-type and N-type architectures and incorporating dotted diffusion

Solar cell emitter region fabrication with differentiated P-type and N-type architectures and incorporating a multi-purpose passivation and contact layer

Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions using substrate-level ion implantation, and resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a method of fabricating a solar cell involves forming a lightly doped region in a semiconductor substrate by ion implantation, the lightly doped region of a first conductivity type of a first concentration. The method also involves forming a first plurality of dopant regions of the first conductivity type of a second, higher, concentration by ion implantation, the first plurality of dopant regions overlapping with a first portion of the lightly doped region. The method also involves forming a second plurality of dopant regions by ion implantation, the second plurality of dopant regions having a second conductivity type of a concentration higher than the first concentration, and the second plurality of dopant regions overlapping with a second portion of the lightly doped region and alternating with but not overlapping the first plurality of dopant regions.

Solar cell emitter region fabrication using substrate-level ion implantation

Methods of fabricating solar cell emitter regions with differentiated P-type and N-type regions architectures, and resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a back contact solar cell includes a substrate having a light-receiving surface and a back surface. A first polycrystalline silicon emitter region of a first conductivity type is disposed on a first thin dielectric layer disposed on the back surface of the substrate. A second polycrystalline silicon emitter region of a second, different, conductivity type is disposed on a second thin dielectric layer disposed on the back surface of the substrate. A third thin dielectric layer is disposed laterally directly between the first and second polycrystalline silicon emitter regions. A first conductive contact structure is disposed on the first polycrystalline silicon emitter region. A second conductive contact structure is disposed on the second polycrystalline silicon emitter region.

Solar cell emitter region fabrication with differentiated P-type and N-type region architectures

Methods of fabricating solar cells, and the resulting solar cells, are described herein. In an example, a method of fabricating a solar cell includes forming a thin dielectric layer on a surface of a substrate by radical oxidation or plasma oxidation of the surface of the substrate. The method also involves forming a silicon layer over the thin dielectric layer. The method also involves forming a plurality of emitter regions from the silicon layer.

Deposition approaches for emitter layers of solar cells

Solar cell emitter region fabrication with differentiated p-type and n-type architectures and incorporating dotted diffusion

Solar cell fabrication using laser patterning of ion-implanted etch-resistant layers, and the resulting solar cells, are described. In an example, a back contact solar cell includes a maximum concentration of the approximately Gaussian distribution of P-type dopants approximately in the center of each of segmented P-type emitter regions between first and second sides of each of the segmented P-type emitter regions.

Solar cell fabrication using laser patterning of ion-implanted etch-resistant layers and the resulting solar cells

A solar cell includes negative metal contact fingers and positive metal contact fingers. The negative metal contact fingers are interdigitated with the positive metal contact fingers. The metal contact fingers, both positive and negative, have a radial design where they radially extend to surround at least 25% of a perimeter of a corresponding contact pad. The metal contact fingers have bend points, which collectively form a radial pattern with a center point within the contact pad. Exactly two metal contact pads merge into a single leading metal contact pad that is wider than either of the exactly two metal contact pads.

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Staffan Westerberg