A polysilicon emitter solar cell

A new solar cell structure is reported in which the emitter consists of a thin layer of in situ phosphorus-doped polysilicon deposited by a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) techniques. The highest process temperature required to fabricate this structure is only 627°C. Although the use of a polysilicon emitter results in some degradation in blue response, both theoretical and experimental results are presented indicating that photocurrent densities in excess of 30 mA.cm-2are attainable under AM1 illumination. The low back-injection current associated with the polysilicon emitter has allowed a very high open circuit voltage of 652 mV to be obtained at 28°C in a cell illuminated to give a short circuit current density of 30 mA.cm-2.