JP6028982B2 - Manufacturing method of solar cell - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a solar cell, and more particularly to a technique suitable for a back junction solar cell in which positive and negative electrodes are arranged on the back side opposite to a light receiving surface.

  A so-called back junction solar cell has been developed in which an electrode of a different conductivity type is formed only on the back surface of the substrate without forming an electrode on the light receiving surface of the silicon substrate. As a back junction solar cell, an extraction electrode in which a p-type region and an n-type region are formed on the back surface of the substrate without forming an electrode on the light-receiving surface side of the solar cell, and both positive and negative carriers are extracted in a comb shape. What is taken out from the above has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  A conventional back junction solar cell will be described with reference to FIG. In the back junction solar cell 100, an n-type electrode 116 and a p-type electrode 117 are formed on the back surface of the substrate 111 made of n-type silicon opposite to the light-receiving surface side. The n-type electrode 116 is composed of an n-type thin wire electrode 116f and an n-type bus bar electrode 116b, and the p-type electrode 117 is composed of a p-type thin wire electrode 117f and a p-type bus bar electrode 117b.

  From the viewpoint of improving the output of the solar cell, the p-type electrode 117 and the n-type electrode 116 are formed so as to cover substantially the entire substrate 111. An n-type bus bar electrode 116b extending in a direction intersecting with the n-type thin wire electrode 116f is formed at one end on the back surface of the substrate 111. The n-type thin wire electrode 116f and the n-type bus bar electrode 116b are n-type. An electrode 116 is configured. Further, a p-type bus bar electrode 117b extending in a direction intersecting with the p-type thin wire electrode 117f is formed on the other end portion on the back surface of the silicon substrate 101, and the p-type thin wire electrode 117f and the p-type bus bar electrode 117b A mold electrode 117 is formed.

  The substrate 11 in contact with the n-type electrode 116 and the p-type electrode 117 is provided with an n-type region and a p-type region formed so as to correspond to the respective regions.

  When sunlight is incident on the light receiving surface of the back junction solar cell, carriers generated in the vicinity of the light receiving surface of the substrate 111 reach the pn junction formed on the back surface, and reach the n-type thin wire electrode 116f and the p-type thin wire electrode 117f. Collected as current. The collected current is output to the outside through the bus bar electrodes 116b and 117b.

JP 2006-120944 A

  By the way, in the back junction solar cell, copper or the like is grown on the base electrode by plating to form a low resistance electrode so that the output of the solar cell can be taken out without waste. However, when an electrode is formed by plating, current concentrates at the tip of the electrode, and the plating is formed thick at the end portion, which may cause a problem in that the film thickness of the electrode varies.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a solar cell with little variation in electrode film thickness.

  The solar cell of the present invention is a solar cell having a light receiving surface and a back surface provided on the opposite side of the light receiving surface on a semiconductor substrate, and includes an electrode portion formed on one main surface of the substrate. The electrode section includes a plurality of first thin wire electrodes formed on the one main surface, a plurality of second thin wire electrodes formed adjacent to the first thin wire electrode, and the plurality of first thin wire electrodes. Are connected to each other, and a plurality of second bus bar electrodes are connected to each other, and each end of each of the first thin wire electrode and the second thin wire electrode has two A portion where the sides intersect is formed in an arc shape.

  The solar cell module of the present invention is a solar cell module including a plurality of electrically connected solar cells, and the solar cell includes a light receiving surface that receives sunlight on a semiconductor substrate, and a light receiving surface. An electrode portion formed on one main surface of the substrate, and the electrode portion includes a plurality of first fine wire electrodes formed on the one main surface; A plurality of second thin wire electrodes formed adjacent to the first thin wire electrodes, a first bus bar electrode that connects the plurality of first thin wire electrodes to each other, and a second that connects the plurality of second thin wire electrodes to each other A bus bar electrode, and each electrode end of the first thin wire electrode and the second thin wire electrode is formed in a circular arc shape at a portion where two sides intersect.

  The solar cell of the present invention can provide a solar cell with little variation in film thickness in the vicinity of the end portions of the first electrode and the second electrode.

It is a top view which shows the solar cell concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing in the A-A 'line of the solar cell concerning embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged plan view which shows the thin wire | line electrode part of the solar cell concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the part which measured the film thickness of the thin wire electrode of the solar cell concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the magnitude | size and film thickness of the circular arc part of the thin wire electrode of the solar cell concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a typical top view which shows the connection structure of the solar cell concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the solar cell module using the solar cell concerning this invention. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the other example of the solar cell which can apply this invention. It is a typical top view which shows the conventional back junction type solar cell.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated in order to avoid duplication of description.

  In the present specification, “light-receiving surface” means a surface on which light is mainly incident in a solar cell or a solar cell module, and “back surface” means a surface opposite to the light-receiving surface.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the solar cell 10 is formed by using a single crystal silicon wafer as the substrate 11 and laminating an amorphous silicon layer on the substrate 11. More specifically, the solar cell 10 includes a substantially intrinsic amorphous semiconductor 19, n-type amorphous silicon 20, silicon nitride, etc. on the light-receiving surface of an n-type single crystal silicon wafer that becomes the substrate 11. The protective films 21 are sequentially stacked. Further, on the back surface of the substrate 11, in the n region 12 corresponding to the n-type electrode 16, a substantially intrinsic amorphous semiconductor layer 12 ₁ , n-type amorphous semiconductor layer 12 ₂ , nitriding is formed on the substrate 11. silicon layer 12 _{3, n-type} electrode 16 are sequentially laminated, through a hole through the silicon layer 12 ₃ nitride has an n-type amorphous semiconductor layer 12 ₂ and the n-type electrode 16 is connected structure. In the p region 13 corresponding to the p-type electrode 17, a substantially intrinsic amorphous semiconductor layer 13 ₁ , p-type amorphous semiconductor layer 13 ₂ , and p-type electrode 17 are sequentially stacked on the substrate 11. Has a structure.

  The n-type electrode 16 in the n region 12 includes an n-type thin wire electrode 16f and an n-type bus bar electrode 16b, and the p-type electrode 17 in the p region 13 includes a p-type thin wire electrode 17f and a p-type bus bar electrode 17b. Consists of.

  From the viewpoint of improving the output of the solar cell, the n-type electrode 16 and the p-type electrode 17 are formed in a comb shape at predetermined intervals so as to substantially cover the entire back surface of the substrate 11. As a result, current generated by photoelectric conversion in many regions can be efficiently collected by generating a substantially constant electric field between the n-type electrode 16 and the p-type electrode 17.

  The n-type bus bar electrode 16b is formed at one end on the back surface of the silicon substrate 11 so as to extend in a direction intersecting the n-type thin wire electrode 16f, and is connected to the n-type thin wire electrode 16f. The p-type bus bar electrode 17b is formed at the other end on the back surface of the silicon substrate 11 so as to extend in a direction crossing the p-type thin line electrode 17f, and is connected to the p-type thin line electrode 17f.

  These electrodes 16f, 16b, 17f, and 17b are formed by growing a metal such as copper on the base electrode by plating so that the current generated in the solar cell can be sufficiently extracted to the outside. The

  In this embodiment, copper layers (plated layers) 16m and 17m are grown on the base electrodes 16a and 17a formed by sputtering or the like by plating. The base electrodes 16a and 17a are made of copper.

  Then, a copper layer 16m is provided on the base electrode 16a by plating to form an n-type thin wire electrode 16f. A base electrode 17a is formed on the p-type region 13, a copper layer 17m is provided on the base electrode 17a by plating, and a p-type thin wire electrode 17f is formed.

  Hereinafter, the shapes of the electrodes 16 and 17, which are characteristic portions of the present embodiment, particularly the end portions of the thin wire electrodes 16 f will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

  At the corners of the end portions of the thin wire electrode 16f, current concentrates during plating, and it may be easier to plate compared to regions where other plating is performed. As a result, the plating film thickness is increased, and plating is performed up to a region other than the processing region, causing problems such as a short circuit between the electrodes.

  Therefore, it has been studied to suppress the current concentration by forming the end of the thin wire electrode 16f in a semicircular shape. However, when the end portion of the fine wire electrode 16f is formed in a semicircular shape, the area of the p-type electrode 17 opposed to the end portion of the fine wire electrode 16f is increased, resulting in a new problem that the ineffective portion is increased.

  Specifically, when the end of the fine wire electrode 16f is rounded, the distance between the fine wire electrode 16f and the p-type electrode 17 adjacent to the fine wire electrode 16f is widened, and the generated electric field becomes weak so that the generated current can be taken out efficiently. There are no problems. Therefore, the arc-shaped portion 17bc ′ is formed so that the p-type electrode 17 has a substantially constant distance to the p-type electrode 17 formed in the vicinity of the thin wire electrode 16f so that a substantially constant electric field is generated. It was examined. However, in this case, there is a problem that the area of the p-type electrode 17 is increased, and an ineffective portion (a portion in FIG. 3) that does not contribute to power generation is increased.

  On the other hand, the end of the fine wire electrode 16f is rectangular and the shape of the p-type electrode 17 is formed so that the distance to the p-type electrode 17 formed in the vicinity of the fine wire electrode 16f is substantially constant. The formation of such an electric field was considered. As a result, the p-type electrode 17 adjacent to the thin wire electrode 16f can be composed of the thin wire electrode 17f having a low resistance and a small area to be formed, and the bus bar electrode 17b having a low resistance and a small area to be formed. As a result, the invalid portion that does not contribute to power generation can be reduced. However, when the rectangular shape is used, there is a problem in that the current during plating is concentrated at the corners where the two sides are orthogonal to each other, resulting in variations in the film thickness of the electrodes.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the end of the thin wire electrode 16f has an arcuate portion 16r at the corner where the two sides intersect, and the tip of the thin wire electrode 16f has the arcuate portions 16r and 16r. It is set as the outline which has the linear edge 16c in between.

  Further, in the p-type electrode 17, the bus bar electrode 17b and the fine wire electrode 17f are connected corresponding to the arc-shaped portion 16r, and an arc-shaped portion 17bc is formed at a portion where each side intersects.

  According to the present embodiment, the ineffective area indicated by a in FIG. 3 is reduced to improve carrier collection efficiency. Then, a portion where the two sides intersect with each other is formed into an arc-shaped portion 16r, current concentration during plating can be suppressed, variation in the film thickness of the thin wire electrode 16f can be reduced, and plating other than the processing region can be reduced. .

  In the above embodiment, the end of the thin wire electrode 16f of the n-type electrode 16 and the shape of the p-type electrode 17 have been described. However, the end of the thin wire electrode 16f of the n-type electrode 16 is replaced with the end of the p-type electrode 17. Similar effects can be obtained by replacing the p-type electrode 17 with the n-type electrode 16 at the end of the thin wire electrode 17f and the same configuration. For this reason, the end of the fine wire electrode 17f was formed on the n-type electrode 16 similarly to the p-type electrode 17 as well as the end of the fine wire electrode 16f. In addition, also in the n-type bus bar electrode 16b and the p-type bus bar electrode 17b, like the thin wire electrode 16f, current concentrates at the corners during plating, and it is easier to plate compared to other processing regions, so the two sides intersect. The corners were arcuate parts.

  Next, the relationship between the radius of the arcuate portion 16r and the plating thickness will be described with reference to FIGS.

In order to investigate the relationship between the radius of the arcuate portion 16r and the plating thickness, an electrode pattern shown in FIG. 4 was prepared. The electrode pattern had a width (W) of 1000 μm. The electrode pattern was formed by sputtering copper (Cu) with a film thickness of 0.2 μm as a base electrode and forming it into a predetermined shape by photolithography. Thereafter, copper was formed on the base electrode 16a by plating using phosphorous copper (copper sulfate bath) as a plating solution under the condition of a current of 0.01 A / cm ² .

  The relationship between the plating film thicknesses was measured by changing the radius R of the arcuate portion 16r at the end from 2 μm to 100 μm. The measurement was performed by measuring the measurement position (Tmid) at the center at a distance of 3 W from the tip and the maximum film thickness portion (Tr) on the outer periphery of the arc-shaped portion 16r, and using the ratio (Tr / Tmid) of the two.

  The results are shown in Table 1 and FIG.

  As shown in Table 1 and FIG. 5, as the radius R of the arcuate portion 16r increases, the ratio approaches 1 and the variation in film thickness between the central portion and the arcuate portion 16r decreases. And the magnitude | size of the dispersion | variation in which the ratio will be 20% or less was about 20 micrometers in the value of the radius R of the circular-arc-shaped part 16r. As a result of testing with an actual apparatus, it has been confirmed that local stress is unlikely to cause electrode peeling or the like when the fluctuation range of the film thickness is within a range of about 20%. Therefore, it is preferable that the value of the radius R of the arc-shaped portion 16r is 20 μm or more from the viewpoint of variations in the film thickness of the electrode. Further, the larger the radius R of the arcuate portion 16r, the smaller the variation, but the larger the increase, the more invalid areas. For this reason, the radius R of the arcuate portion 16r is more preferably 20 μm or more and 100 μm or less.

  Considering these, it is preferable that the radius R of the arc-shaped portion 16r is 2% or more and 10% or less with respect to the width (W) of the thin wire electrode 16f.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the solar cell 10 will be described.

  The substrate 11 made of single crystal silicon is obtained by slicing an ingot of single crystal silicon. The conductivity type of the substrate 11 may be n-type or p-type, but in this embodiment, a substrate made of n-type single crystal silicon was used. Further, the size and thickness of the substrate 11 can be appropriately changed. In this embodiment, a substrate having a thickness of 200 μm and a size of 100 mm square was used.

On the light receiving surface of the substrate 11, a substantially intrinsic amorphous semiconductor 19, an n-type amorphous silicon 20, and a protective film 21 such as silicon nitride are sequentially stacked using a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) apparatus. On the back surface of the substrate 11, in the n region 12 corresponding to the n-type electrode 16, a substantially intrinsic amorphous semiconductor layer 12 ₁ , n-type amorphous semiconductor layer 12 ₂ , and silicon nitride layer 12 ₃ are formed. sequentially after laminating using a CVD apparatus, by using a hydrofluoric nitric acid and hydrofluoric acid, to penetrate through the silicon layer 12 ₃ nitride, n-type amorphous semiconductor layer 12 ₂ is etched to expose. Further, in the p region 13 corresponding to the p-type electrode 17 on the substrate 11, laminated with sequential CVD apparatus substantially intrinsic amorphous semiconductor layer ₁₃ 1, p-type amorphous semiconductor layer 13 ₂ .

  Subsequently, in the n-type region 12 and the p-type region 13 on the back side of the substrate 11, the base electrode 16a for the n-type thin wire electrode 16f and the n-type bus bar electrode 16b, the p-type thin wire electrode 17f and the bus bar electrode 17b are used. A base electrode 17a was formed. In this embodiment, the base electrodes 16a and 17a are formed by sputtering copper using a metal mask. The base electrodes 16a and 17a were each formed to have a thickness of 0.1 μm to 4 μm and a width of 0.2 mm. At this time, by using a metal mask, a contour having a linear end portion 16c (17c) between the arc-shaped portions 16r (17r) having an end radius (R) of 20 μm or more by using the thin wire electrode 16f (17f). Can be formed. The connecting portion between the bus bar electrode 17b (16b) and the thin wire electrode 17f (16f) also has a shape corresponding to the electrode 16 (17) in which the arc-shaped portion 17bc (16bc) corresponding to the arc-shaped portion 16r (17r) is formed. The underlying electrodes 16a and 17a can be formed.

Thereafter, electric field plating is performed on the base electrodes 16a and 17a while supplying power individually, plating layers 16m and 17m are formed, and the electrodes 16 and 17 are completed, whereby the solar cell 10 of the present embodiment is obtained. In the plating, the anode was phosphor-containing copper, the cathode was the base electrode 16a or 17a, and the plating thickness was 10 μm to 30 μm, and in this embodiment, 10 μm. As for the plating conditions, the plating current was 0.01 A / cm ² , the plating solution was copper sulfate, the distance between the electrodes was 5 cm, and the temperature was 40 ° C.

  As described above, the thin line electrode 16f (17f) having the arc-shaped portion 16r (17r) and the linear end 16c (17c) reduces the ineffective region and improves the carrier collection efficiency. And the part which two sides cross | intersect is made into the circular arc-shaped part 16r (17r), and while suppressing the current concentration at the time of plating, the dispersion | variation in a film thickness can be made small, and it reduces that it is plated except a process area | region. Can do.

  In addition, a solar cell module can be formed using a plurality of solar cells according to embodiments of the present invention. Below, the solar cell module using the solar cell concerning embodiment of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG.6 and FIG.7. FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing the connection between the solar cell and the wiring tab according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing the solar cell module using the solar cell according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is.

  The solar cell module 60 includes a solar cell unit 60a in which a plurality of solar cells 10 are formed by wiring tabs 50 and crossover wiring (not shown) between a surface protection member 41 such as glass and a back surface protection member 42 such as resin. It has a laminated structure with a light-transmitting sealing material 43 such as EVA (Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate).

  Next, a method for forming the solar cell module 60 will be described. First, a plurality of solar cells 10 are first arranged so that the bus bar electrode 17b of the p-side electrode 17 of one solar cell 10 and the bus bar electrode 16b of the n-side electrode 16 of the other solar cell 10 are adjacent to each other. . And the bus-bar electrode 17b of one solar cell 10 and the bus-bar electrode 16b of the other solar cell 10 are electrically connected using the wiring tab 50, and the string 60b is formed. Furthermore, the solar cell 10 made into the string 60b connects the connecting wiring (not shown) which connects between strings, and forms the solar cell unit 60a.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 7, the solar cell module 60 includes a surface protection member 41 such as glass, a light-transmitting sealing material 43 such as EVA, a solar cell unit 60 a, and a sealing material 43. Then, the back surface protection member 42 is laminated in this order, and is completed by laminating.

  The solar cell module 60 according to the present embodiment can increase the power generation efficiency by using the solar cell 10 that can efficiently collect the generated power.

  In addition, although the solar cell concerning the said embodiment used the solar cell formed by laminating | stacking an amorphous silicon film etc. on the board | substrate 11, it is not restricted to this, As a solar cell formed by diffusing a dopant, Good. Furthermore, the solar cell according to the above embodiment uses a back junction solar cell, but is not limited to this, and may be a solar cell in which electrodes are formed on both the light receiving surface and the back surface. If it forms, it is applicable similarly. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, an impurity region 13 of another conductivity type is provided on the front surface side of the semiconductor substrate 11 of one conductivity type, and the substrate 11, the electrode 16 of one conductivity type, and the through hole are provided on the back surface side of the substrate 11. Even in the case of forming the electrode 17 of another conductivity type connected through the electrode 31, it can be used similarly. In this case, an insulating film 18 is formed between the electrode 17 and the substrate 11 so that the one conductivity type electrode 16 and the other conductivity type electrode 17 are not in contact with each other.

  In the above embodiment, the electrode is formed by electrolytic plating, but may be formed by electroless plating. In order to deposit copper by electroless plating as an electrode, a base electrode may be formed of a metal such as tin or nickel that has a higher ionization tendency than copper. Further, as the electroless plating solution, for example, a solution containing at least one of cupric sulfate, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, formaldehyde, and alkali hydroxide as a main component can be used.

  In the above embodiment, a layer made of a vapor-deposited metal film such as copper is formed as a base electrode by sputtering. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an Ag paste that is a conductive resin is formed by screen printing and heated. The Ag paste can be cured and used as a base electrode.

Between the n-type amorphous semiconductor layer 12 ₂ in the n region 12 or the p-type amorphous semiconductor layer 13 _{2 in} the p region 13 and the base electrode, ITO (indium tin oxide), SnO ₂ ( A transparent electrode made of tin oxide), ZnO (zinc oxide), or the like may be formed.

  It should be thought that embodiment disclosed this time is an illustration and restrictive at no points. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description of the embodiment but by the scope of claims for patent, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims for patent.

10 solar cell 11 substrate 12 n-type region 13 p-type region 16 n-type electrode 16f n-type thin wire electrode 16b n-type bus bar electrode 16r arc-shaped portion 17 p-type electrode 17f p-type thin wire electrode 17b p-type bus bar electrode 17r arc-shaped portion

Claims (4)

The back surface of the semiconductor substrate having a rear surface provided on the opposite side of the light-receiving surface and the light receiving surface, to form a p-type region and the n-type region,
A p-type base electrode including a plurality of p-type thin wire base electrodes and a p-type bus bar base electrode connecting the plurality of p-type thin wire base electrodes to each other is formed in the p-type region, and an n-type thin wire base is formed in the n-type region Forming an n-type base electrode including an electrode and an n-type bus bar base electrode connecting the plurality of n-type thin wire base electrodes to each other;
A method of manufacturing a solar cell , wherein electric field plating is performed while feeding power to the p-type base electrode and the n-type base electrode, thereby forming a p-type plating layer and an n-type plating layer ,
The electrode ends of each of the p-type thin wire base electrode and the n-type thin wire base electrode are formed so as to have two arc-shaped portions having a radius of 20 μm or more and 100 μm or less at a portion where two sides intersect. A method for manufacturing a solar cell. 2. The method for manufacturing a solar cell according to claim 1, wherein ends of the p-type thin wire base electrode and the n-type thin wire base electrode are connected to the arc-shaped portion to form linear end portions. The p-type base electrode and the n-type base electrode is selected from the evaporated metal film or a conductive resin, a method for manufacturing a solar cell according to claim 1 or claim 2. The method for manufacturing a solar cell according to claim 1, wherein a portion where two sides of the p-type bus bar base electrode and the n-type bus bar base electrode intersect is formed in an arc shape.

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