Front Side Metallization Issues of a Solar Cell with Ink-jet Printing

Abstract

The metallization of a multi-crystalline silicon solar cell has been challenged because the thickness reduction of a solar cell wafer decreases the breaking force of a solar cell wafer. Therefore, ink-jet printing has drawn attention of researchers in the art in place of conventional screen printing which requires the direct contact with a solar cell wafer to transfer silver paste. In this study, a preliminary study for the front side metallization of a solar cell wafer with ink-jet printing was conducted. Firstly, multicrystalline silicon solar cell wafers, the size of which is 156 mm by 156 mm, were coated with a 0.2 wt% fluorocarbon solution. After laser-patterning to selectively remove the SiNx layer and prepare for the surface energy patterned finger electrode regions, silver nanoparticulate ink was delivered with a piezo Drop-On-Demand ink-jet print head and baked at the peak temperature of 830 °C after drying at 100 °C. The measured cell efficiency of an ink-jet metallized solar cell was about 12.1% and the cause of the low cell efficiency is addressed here.