Black Silicon Photovoltaics

为了应对气候变化的最坏影响，需要紧急努力降低可再生能源的成本。发展最快的可再生能源技术是光伏发电（PV），在未来几十年将占全球发电能力的30%。硅光伏目前占市场份额的90%以上，是一项成熟的技术，重大的技术改进将确保进一步降低价格并增加部署。提高电池功率转换效率是降低太阳能成本的关键驱动因素，本提案旨在通过开发工业兼容的硅太阳能电池光学增强、表面钝化和发射极形成技术来实现这一目标。作为该项目的一部分开发的方法将应用于基于单晶硅和多晶硅的领先太阳能电池技术。对于c-Si，这是一个后结（RJ）架构，也称为指间后接触电池，对于mc-Si，这是一个前结（FJ）架构。为了增强RJ电池技术，p-n结位于电池后部，不受前表面纹理的影响，该方法是使用基于溶液的纹理技术，从而产生光学黑色硅表面。对于FJ电池结构，必须考虑在前表面形成p-n结以及纹理，将研究气相过程。在为RJ和FJ太阳能电池开发有效的抗反射表面时，挑战变成了将光子捕获的增益转移到电池效率的提高上。为了实现这一点，必须研究表面的电学特性，并开发方法来减轻由于纹理过程引起的任何电学退化。该项目的独特定位是联合解决电池的光学和电学特性，并通过这样做，旨在生产可轻松集成到太阳能电池制造中的最佳纹理表面。南安普顿和牛津大学的项目团队将与德国Fraunhofer ISE和澳大利亚UNSW的世界领先研究机构密切合作。这将能够在最先进的硅太阳能电池上演示拟议的纹理技术，并提供表征和加工方面的先进技术。这些合作还将促进向英国研究界的知识转移。该提案的核心原则是促进工业太阳能电池的生产。为此，双方建立了两项战略产业合作。首先，英国领先的太阳能电池生产工业工具制造商Tetreon技术公司将密切参与该项目，其目的是随后开发出口到全球市场的工业设备和工艺。其次，天合光能作为全球最大的电池制造商之一和高效电池领域的行业领导者，将深入了解该项目旨在解决的市场和行业需求。他们将在工业环境中演示从电池到模块制造的成功过程。通过这些合作，该项目将利用表面钝化和光捕获互补领域的尖端专业知识来应对开发光伏技术的挑战。该项目将大大提高硅基太阳能电池和组件的效率，并通过与英国和国际公司的密切合作，将使所进行的研究以新工具和工艺的形式迅速利用，出口到全球太阳能产业。除了团队内部的专业知识外，其学术和工业网络为创新和有影响力的研究计划奠定了理想的基础。

Urgent efforts are required to reduce the cost of renewable energy in order to tackle the worst effects of climate change. The fastest growing renewable energy technology is photovoltaics (PV), which will account for 30% of global power generation capacity in the coming decades. Silicon PV, which currently accounts for more than 90% of the market, is a proven technology where significant technological improvements will ensure further price reductions and increased deployment. Improvement in cell power conversion efficiency is a key driving factor in reducing the cost of solar energy, which this proposal aims to achieve by developing industrially-compatible optical enhancement, surface passivation and emitter formation techniques for silicon solar cells.The methods developed as part of this project will be applied to the leading solar cell technologies based on mono- (c-Si) and multi-crystalline silicon (mc-Si). For c-Si, this is a rear junction (RJ) architecture also known as the interdigitated back contact cell, and for mc-Si, this is a front junction (FJ) architecture. To enhance the RJ cell technology, where the p-n junction is at the back of the cell and unaffected by the front surface texturing, the approach is to use a solution-based texturing technique that leads to optically black silicon surfaces. For the case of the FJ cell architecture, where formation of the p-n junction at the front surface alongside texturing has to be considered, gas-phase processes will be investigated. Upon developing effective antireflective surfaces for RJ and FJ solar cells the challenge becomes transferring the gain in photon capture to improvements in the efficiency of the cell. For this to take place the electrical properties of the surface must be studied, and methods developed to mitigate any electrical degradation due to the texturing processes. This project is uniquely positioned to address jointly the optical and electrical properties of the cells, and by doing so, aims to produce optimally textured surfaces that can be easily integrated into the manufacture of solar cells.The project teams at Southampton and Oxford will draw on their close collaborations with the world-leading research institutes at Fraunhofer ISE, Germany, and UNSW, Australia. This will enable the demonstration of the proposed texturing technology on state-of-the-art silicon solar cells, as well as providing access to advanced techniques in characterisation and processing. These collaborations will also promote knowledge transfer to the UK research community. A core principle of this proposal is to contribute to improving industrial solar cell production. For this, two strategic industrial collaborations have been established. Firstly Tetreon Technologies, the leading UK manufacturer of industrial tools for solar cell production, will be closely involved in the project, with the aim of subsequently developing industrial equipment and processes for export to the global market. Secondly Trina Solar, one of the world's largest cell manufacturers and the industrial leader in high efficiency cells, will provide insight into the market and industry needs that this project aims to address. They will demonstrate successful processes in an industrial environment from cell to module manufacture. Through these collaborations this project will leverage cutting edge expertise in the complementary areas of surface passivation and light trapping to tackle the challenge of developing photovoltaic technology. The project will deliver substantially improved efficiencies for silicon based solar cells and modules and, through close collaboration with UK and international companies, will allow the research undertaken to be rapidly exploited in the form of new tools and processes for export to the global solar industry. Alongside the expertise within the team, its academic and industrial networks form an ideal basis for the innovative and impactful research programme.