Cost-effective, silicon-based solar cells: Material and technology issues

Affordability is the key to any renewable energy technology in becoming a viable alternative to conventional energy technology. Solar photovoltaics (PV) is a promising and environment-friendly energy conversion technique, experiencing steady market growth. Cost reduction of PV cells relies largely on the use of low-cost silicon materials which tend to comprormise the device performance. This underscores the need for new, material-specific process technologies to be used in order to achieve an acceptable $/Wp. In this paper, first an overview of different techniques for the fabrication of low-cost silicon will be presented. We highlight the need to modify the processing technology while using defective, cost-effective Si substrates. This is followed by the description of research efforts on the development of a cost-effective heterojunction cell fabrication technology, as well as the results on the simplified process.