Silicon Solar Cell Metallization and Module Technology

In solar cell production, metallization is the manufacturing of metal contacts at the surfaces of solar cells in order to collect the photo-generated current for use. Being one of the most expensive steps in solar cell fabrication, it plays both an electrical and an optical role, because the contacts contribute to shading, and to the series resistance of solar cells. In addition, metal contacts may reduce the solar cells voltage due to charge carrier recombination at the metal / silicon interface. Addressing these challenges could increase solar cell conversion efficiency while cutting their production costs.
This work presents state of the art methods for the metallization of crystalline Si solar cells for industrial production as well as for research and development. Different metallization technologies are compared, and ongoing R&D activities for the most relevant silicon solar cell metallization technologies are described in detail. Chapters cover fundamentals of metallization and metallization approaches, evaporated, plated and screen-printed contacts, alternative printing technologies, metallization of specific solar cell types, module interconnection technologies, and also address module technology.
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