Suppression of light degradation of carrier lifetimes in low-resistivity CZ-Si solar cells

An international joint research has been conducted to investigate light deg radation of low-resistivity Si CZ wafers and also to provide practical solu tions to suppress the degradation. Ten kinds of CZ, MCZ and FZ Si wafers we re evaluated under AM1.5 irradiation and processed to fabricate solar cells using low- and high-temperature processes. Lifetime degradation was suppre ssed using MCZ Si wafers with low oxygen content and Ga-doped CZ wafers wit h high oxygen content. In addition, high-temperature oxidation was also eff ective to reduce light degradation remarkably. No degradation of solar cell s could be realized by using B-doped MCZ and Ga-doped CZ wafers combined wi th a high-temperature processing. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.