OPTIMIZATION OF ELECTRODE METALLIZATION PATTERN FOR SILICON HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELL BASED ON GRIDDLER SIMULATION

Li Xiaotong; Jia Xiaojie; Zhao Lei; Peng Changtao; Xin Ke; Wang Wenjing

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-2054

PDF(2309 KB)

Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (4) : 606-613. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-2054

OPTIMIZATION OF ELECTRODE METALLIZATION PATTERN FOR SILICON HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELL BASED ON GRIDDLER SIMULATION

Li Xiaotong^1,2, Jia Xiaojie^1,2, Zhao Lei^1,2, Peng Changtao³, Xin Ke³, Wang Wenjing^2,3

Author information +

History +

Abstract

For silicon heterojunction （SHJ） solar cells based on n-type crystalline silicon （c-Si） wafers, the electrode metallization pattern is optimized to realize high conversion efficiency by simulating the current-voltage （I-V） performance of the solar cells via Griddler software. Experimental validation of the simulation results confirm the accuracy of the simulation model. The optimization for copper electrodes prepared by copper-plating and silver electrodes prepared by screen-printing are both investigated and compared with respect to the comb-like pattern composed of fingers and busbars perpendicularly. This study includes the number of copper-plated busbars, a comparison of the electrical performance between copper-plated and screen-printed silver fingers, and the influence of copper electrode height. Optimal parameters for achieving high efficiency with copper-plated electrodes in SHJ solar cells are proposed. The optimal values are found to be 12 busbars, a busbar spacing of 13.85 mm, and a finger spacing of 1.410 mm with a width of 20 μm for the copper-plated electrodes, resulting in an efficiency improvement of 0.17% over the best efficiency achieved with screen-printed silver electrodes. Theoretically, the higher the electrode height, the higher the efficiency. By utilizing the optimal spacing between the busbars and fingers, the grid design can be effectively adapted and scaled for application to solar cells of different sizes.

Key words

silicon solar cells / heterojunction / copper plating / griddler simulation / grid line design

Cite this article

EndNote

Ris (Procite)

Bibtex

Download Citations

Li Xiaotong, Jia Xiaojie, Zhao Lei, Peng Changtao, Xin Ke, Wang Wenjing. OPTIMIZATION OF ELECTRODE METALLIZATION PATTERN FOR SILICON HETEROJUNCTION SOLAR CELL BASED ON GRIDDLER SIMULATION[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2026, 47(4): 606-613 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2024-2054

References

[1] LONG W, YIN S, PENG F G, et al.On the limiting efficiency for silicon heterojunction solar cells[J]. Solar energy materials and solar cells, 2021, 231: 111291.
[2] DONG G Q, SANG J C, PENG C W, et al.Power conversion efficiency of 25.26% for silicon heterojunction solar cell with transition metal element doped indium oxide transparent conductive film as front electrode[J]. Progress in photovoltaics: research and applications, 2022, 30(9): 1136-1143.
[3] DE WOLF S, DESCOEUDRES A, HOLMAN Z C, et al.High-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells: a review[J]. Green, 2012: 2(1): 7-24.
[4] LIN H, YANG M, RU X N, et al.Silicon heterojunction solar cells with up to 26.81% efficiency achieved by electrically optimized nanocrystalline-silicon hole contact layers[J]. Nature energy, 2023, 8(8): 789-799.
[5] AGUILAR A, HERASIMENKA S Y, KARAS J, et al.Development of Cu plating for silicon heterojunction solar cells[C]//2016 IEEE 43rd Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. Portland, USA, 2016, 1972-1975.
[6] BASORE P A.Understanding manufacturing cost influence on future trends in silicon photovoltaics[J]. IEEE journal of photovoltaics, 2014, 4(6): 1477-1482.
[7] YU J, LI J J, ZHAO Y L, et al.Copper metallization of electrodes for silicon heterojunction solar cells: process, reliability and challenges[J]. Solar energy materials and solar cells, 2021, 224: 110993.
[8] YU C, ZOU Q J, WANG Q, et al.Silicon solar cell with undoped tin oxide transparent electrode[J]. Nature energy, 2023, 8(10): 1119-1125.
[9] ANTONINI A, STEFANCICH M, VINCENZI D, et al.Contact grid optimization methodology for front contact concentration solar cells[J]. Solar energy materials and solar cells, 2003, 80(2): 155-166.
[10] 李凯, 张宪民, 张翔. 太阳电池非等宽主栅前电极栅线的优化设计[J]. 太阳能学报, 2021, 42: 69-76.
LI K, ZHANG X M, ZHANG X.Optimum design of front electrode grid with unequal width busbar for solar cells[J]. Acta energiae solaris sinica, 2021, 42: 69-76.
[11] 任丽, 王倩, 张东, 等. 硅太阳电池的电极优化[J]. 太阳能学报, 2013, 34(10): 1746-1749.
REN L, WANG Q, ZHANG D, et al.Optimum design of metal electrodes of silicon solar cell[J]. Acta energiae solaris sinica, 2013, 34(10): 1746-1749.
[12] GREEN M A.Solar cells: operating principles, technology, and system applications[M]. New Jersey:Englewood Cliffs, 1982.
[13] GUO H L, SUN Q, ZHANG Q M, et al.Numerical analysis of the effects of distributed series resistance and lateral conduction in solar cells[J]. AIP advances, 2022, 12: 015322.
[14] YU J, BIAN J T, DUAN W Y, et al.Tungsten doped indium oxide film: ready for bifacial copper metallization of silicon heterojunction solar cell[J]. Solar energy materials and solar cells, 2016, 144: 359-363.
[15] YU J, BIAN J T, LIU Y C, et al.Patterning and formation of copper electroplated contact for bifacial silicon hetero-junction solar cell[J]. Solar energy, 2017, 146: 44-49.
[16] YU J, BAI Y, LI J J, et al.Process challenges of high-performance silicon heterojunction solar cells with copper electrodes[J]. Solar energy materials and solar cells, 2023, 250: 112057.
[17] ANANTHANARAYANAN D, WONG J, HO J W, et al.Evaluation of diffused phosphorus emitters using Griddler-PC1D[C]//2018 IEEE 7th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion. Waikoloa, USA, 2018, 2651-2654.
[18] FRÜHAUF F, WONG J, BAUER J, et al. Finite element simulation of inhomogeneous solar cells based on lock-in thermography and luminescence imaging[J]. Solar energy materials and solar cells, 2017, 162: 103-113.
[19] FRÜHAUF F, WONG J, BREITENSTEIN O. Luminescence based high resolution finite element simulation of inhomogeneous solar cells[J]. Solar energy materials and solar cells, 2019, 189: 133-137.
[20] WONG J, HO J W, INNS D, et al.Luminescence image analysis using finite-element models: finished solar cell analysis[J]. IEEE journal of photovoltaics, 2020, 10(1): 159-165.
[21] WONG J.Griddler: Intelligent computer aided design of complex solar cell metallization patterns[C]//2013 IEEE 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. Tampa, USA, 2014, 933-938.
[22] PUROHIT Z, CHALIYAWALA H, KUMAR M, et al.Estimating various losses in c-Si solar cells subjected to partial shading: insights into J-V performance reduction[J]. Journal of computational electronics, 2018, 17(2): 810-820.
[23] 陈喜平, 黄纬, 王肖飞,等. MBB太阳电池栅线的设计优化[J]. 太阳能学报, 2020, 41(12): 132-137.
CHEN X P, HUANG W, WANG X F, et al.Optimization of metallization design of MBB solar cell[J]. Acta energiae solaris sinica, 2020, 41(12): 132-137.
[24] ZENG Y L, PENG C W, HONG W, et al.Review on metallization approaches for high-efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cells[J]. Transactions of Tianjin University, 2022, 28(5): 358-373.