Preparation of novel lead-free Ag-doped glass frit for polycrystalline silicon solar cells by sol-gel method

A novel Ag-doped glass frit is prepared by the sol-gel method. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms indicate that the frit has a large BET surface area and a small particle size which promotes front contact metallization. When the glass frit is used for the front contact electrode of polycrystalline silicon solar cells (pc-Si solar cells), it exhibits excellent wettability and etching results on the SiNx layer and the Si substrate. The pc-Si solar cells with the as-prepared frit has a better photoelectric conversion efficiency (18.2%) and is 0.8% higher than the solar cells using the conventional frit, which is due to the frit will produce a lot of Ag nanocrystals at the interface of the glass layer, promoting the formation of excellent ohmic contact between the Ag electrode and n-Si layer, and reducing the contact resistance of solar cells.