STTR Phase I: Low Cost Copper Contacts with Built in Barriers for Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

这个小型企业技术转让(STTR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将是降低光伏(PV)行业的制造成本。在过去的十年里，太阳能行业经历了两位数的复合年增长率。这一成功导致该行业消耗了全球白银产量的近10%。硅太阳能电池的金属化成本已成为制造商的显著成本驱动因素，而银现货价格的不稳定增加了这个竞争激烈的行业的波动性。铜油墨的成功应用将带来显著的成本节约，因为铜的价格大约是银的100倍。该项目支持可再生能源行业的材料研究和开发，该行业有可能为一个非常大的行业节省大量成本。这个小型企业技术转移(STTR)第一阶段项目将开发具有内置扩散屏障的铜基油墨和浆料。油墨和浆料将由溶液相生产的纳米铜颗粒配制而成。在这一阶段，势垒层将直接生长在颗粒上。该项目将利用高科技分析技术研究纳米颗粒的生长机理和扩散层的性能。这些油墨将被设计为使用强脉冲光(IPL)处理进行热处理，这是一种先进的制造技术。还将研究IPL处理过程中的反应动力学，以优化油墨配方。该项目将产生两种铜基油墨，用于丝网印刷和喷墨印刷，并优化热加工条件。用这些油墨形成的金属触点将表明，这些屏障缓解了铜向硅中的扩散，是取代目前硅太阳能电池上的银触点的可行选择。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will be to lower manufacturing costs in the photovoltaic (PV) industry. In the past decade, the solar energy industry has seen double digit compound annual growth rates. This success has resulted in the industry consuming nearly 10 percent of the global silver production. The cost of metallization on silicon solar cells has become a notable cost driver for the manufacturers and the lack of stability of silver spot prices increases the volatility in this highly competitive industry. The successful implementation of copper inks would lead to significant cost savings, due to copper being around 100 times cheaper than silver. This project supports a materials research and development for a renewable energy industry that has the potential to offer significant cost savings to a very large industry. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will develop copper based inks and pastes with an in-built diffusion barrier. The inks and pastes will be formulated from copper nanoparticles manufactured in solution phase. During this stage barrier layers will be grown directly upon the particles. This project will study the growth mechanisms of the nanoparticles and performance of the diffusion layer using high tech analysis techniques. The inks will be designed to be thermally processed using intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment, an advanced manufacturing technology. Reaction kinetics during IPL treatment will also be investigated in order to optimize ink formulations. This project will result in the formulation of two copper based inks for screen and ink jet printing, with optimized thermal processing conditions. Metal contacts formed with these inks will show that the barriers mitigate diffusion of copper into silicon and are a viable option for the replacement of the current silver contacts on silicon solar cells.