Optimisation of monocrystalline silicon solar cell

The results of investigation of monocrystalline silicon solar cells with screen-printed metallisation are presented. The efficiency of typical cell is about 15%. The participation of all responsible factors for reducing the efficiency was determined based on PC-1D program. It was shown that the profile of the donor dopant in the emitter n(+) is the most critical factor which reduces the efficiency by about 9% in comparison with the maximal theoretical value. The second important factor is the area of the top grid contact which reduces the efficiency by about 7%. The other factors are reflectance from TiOx/SiO2/Si, series resistance and high saturation current which is caused by recombination in the space charge region of cell. To achieve higher efficiency and to approach 20% efficiency, cell design needs to evolve significant and further improvement in the fine-line screen-printing. Moreover elaboration of selective emitter technique suitable for mass production is necessary.