Laser Processing Method to Reduce Solar Cell Manufacturing Cost and Enhancement of Performance

硅基太阳能电池继续主导着太阳能市场，占全球太阳能电池产品的85%以上。为了使太阳能技术成为可行的替代能源，硅太阳能电池制造成本的降低是极其重要的。高功率激光器为降低太阳能电池制造成本提供了一种有吸引力的方法。然而，为了使高功率激光加工在太阳能电池制造中可行，并为工业所适应，还需要进一步的研究。本研究的重点是对高功率激光工艺的科学理解，以便在降低制造成本的情况下实现高性能的太阳能电池。研究结果将使太阳能工业能够轻松地采用基于激光的工艺来制造高性能、低成本的太阳能电池。替代能源的发展将对满足社会的能源需求产生重要影响，并将降低国家的能源需求。美国对外国石油的依赖。本文将实验与计算相结合，对硅太阳能电池制造过程中激光诱导缺陷的产生以及通过控制激光工艺参数来减轻其影响的方法进行研究。研究的技术目标包括：激光诱导材料改性的实验研究和激光与硅衬底相互作用的原子模型；通过优化激光束轮廓、激光功率和激光重复率等激光加工参数来控制缺陷；并了解后处理步骤对缺陷恢复和太阳能电池器件性能的影响。教育将是本科生和研究生参与努力的一个组成部分。研究成果将包括在太阳能和光子学讲座中。此外，主要研究人员计划开发光伏和激光应用领域的教育模块，目标是高年级学生和一年级研究生。我们的目标是通过教师和学生的参与进一步发展这项活动，并在弗吉尼亚科学博物馆和夏洛茨维尔当地图书馆展出材料。

Silicon based solar cells continue to dominate the solar-energy market, accounting for over 85 percent of all solar cell products in the world. The decrease in manufacturing cost of silicon solar cells is extremely important in order for solar-energy technology to be a viable alternative energy source. High-power lasers provide an attractive method to lower the cost of solar cell manufacturing. However, further research is required in order to make high-power laser-based processing viable for solar cell manufacturing and to be adapted by industry. This research focuses on scientific understanding of the high-power laser processes so that high solar cell performance can be achieved at reduced manufacturing cost. Research results will allow the solar industry to easily adapt laser-based processes for the manufacturing of high performance, low-cost solar cells. The growth of alternative energy sources will have an important impact on the society to meet its energy needs and will lower the nation?s dependence on foreign oil.A combined experimental and computational investigation will be carried out on the laser-induced defects generation during silicon solar cell fabrication processes and ways to mitigate their effect through control of laser process parameters. Technical objectives of the research include: experimental examination of laser-induced material modification and atomistic modeling of laser interactions with silicon substrate; control of defects through optimization of laser processing parameters such as laser beam profile, laser power, and laser repetition rate; and understanding the effect of post processing steps on defect recovery as well as on solar cell device performance. Education will be an integral part of the effort by involvement of undergraduate and graduate students. Research results will be included in the lectures on solar energy and photonics. Also, the Principal Investigators plan to develop an educational module in photovoltaics and laser applications area, which will target seniors and first-year graduate students. The goal will be to grow this activity further by involvement of teachers and students, as well as display of materials at Science Museum of Virginia and Charlottesville local library.