Design of optimized metallization patterns for front-contact silicon PV cells

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The ever increasing demand for clean environmentally friendly sources of energy has provided a strong impetus for developing commercially a viable photovoltaics (PV) industry; in particular, one in which the cost of electricity from PV equals that from the grid (i.e., so called grid parity) by improving solar cell and module efficiency and reducing cell/module costs. The PV roadmap envisions meeting 5% of the global energy needs by 2010 and 11% by 2030,the bulk of which has to be achieved by improvements in current commercial Silicon solar cell technology, before alternative technologies can develop and mature. This requires increase in the efficiency of Silicon cells from the present level of 16-20% to about 23% by 2020 and about 25% by 2030, in addition to continued cost reduction. Our industrial partner, Canadian Solar Inc., is a leading PV manufacturer with over $1.6 billion revenue in 2013. To keep the market position meeting the demands of lower cost, better material utilization and higher efficiencies, CSI urgently needs to transition to newer cell designs including optimized front contact patterns for reduced shading and resistive losses, inter-digitated back-contact (IBC) cells and hetero-structured cell designs. The work proposed here combines state-of-the art computational methodologies for optimization of device performance and resource utilization with high-resolution characterization techniques to develop new PV cell designs that could be utilized in the current and planned manufacturing facilities of CSI. Device designs will be validated by measurements on prototypes produced by CSI, in collaboration with CSI engineers. The project will provide a unique milieu for the training of highly qualified personnel for our Canadian industrial partner, and help keep Canada at the forefront of the burgeoning industry.