Abstract
After a brief overview of the historical development of multicrystalline silicon, the material most solar cells are made of, this paper discusses the main issues that need to be addressed to improve both material and devices even further. First, we examine the availability of silicon feedstock, which is a sine qua non for a sustained growth of the photovoltaic industry. Its purity can have important consequences not only on the economics of photovoltaic solar energy but also on the properties of the silicon wafers. Research on the effect of some of those metallic impurities is progressing thanks to new characterisation tools, and gettering techniques capable of extracting or neutralising them are being optimised based on that knowledge. The application of plasma enhanced silicon nitride to passivate the surfaces of the wafers and hydrogenate defects and impurities in their volume is also reviewed here.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-8 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Materials Forum |
| Volume | 27 |
| Publication status | Published - 2004 |
| Event | International Conference and Exhibition on Adaptive Materials for a Modern Society - Sydney, NSW, Australia Duration: 1 Oct 2003 → 3 Oct 2003 |