Abstract
This research develops high open-circuit voltage (VOC)p-type industrial screen-printed silicon solar cells using improved rear surface passivation. It shows a significant improvement in the minority carrier lifetime by low temperature (< 450° C) thermal atomic layer deposition of Al <sub>2</sub> O <sub>3</sub> layers and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of SiN <sub>x</sub> passivation layers. An increase in the V <sub>OC</sub> and the short-circuit current (J <sub>SC</sub> ) due to an improved long-wavelength response are also demonstrated. With the optimized stack layers, a high efficiency of 19.2% across a large area (156 cm <sup>2</sup> ) is seen. Furthermore, the rear-side passivation scheme can be easily integrated into the conventional screen-printed process. This is very promising for in-line solar cell manufacturing. © 1980-2012 IEEE.