Influences of Tellurite Glass Frits on the Electrical Properties of Silicon Solar Cells

In this work, a series of tellurite glass frits has been prepared and used as the silver paste in the Ag electrode of the solar cells. The softening temperature of the glass frits have been characterized by the differential scanning calorimeter. The glass frits G3 has the lowest softening temperature, and the corresponding composition of G3 is 42wt.%TeO2-53wt.% PbO-1wt.%B2O3-4wt.%Bi2O3. The surface and cross-sectional microstructures of Ag electrode and the solar cells have been characterized by the scanning electron microscope. The glass frits with lower softening temperature showed the positive influence due to the dense electrode formation and high strength adhesion force. The electrical properties of the solar cells have been also investigated. The solar cells screen printed the silver paste GP3 had the optimum electrical properties, which can be ascribed to the optimized surface and cross-sectional microstructures of Ag electrode. Therefore, the appropriate tellurite glass frits can well improve the electrical performance of solar cells.