Crystalline Silicon (c-Si)-Based Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) Solar Cells: A Review

Hayat Ullah, Stanislaw Czapp (), Seweryn Szultka, Hanan Tariq, Usama Bin Qasim and Hassan Imran
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Hayat Ullah: Faculty of Electrical and Control Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12 str., 80-233 Gdansk, Poland
Stanislaw Czapp: Faculty of Electrical and Control Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12 str., 80-233 Gdansk, Poland
Seweryn Szultka: Faculty of Electrical and Control Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12 str., 80-233 Gdansk, Poland
Hanan Tariq: Faculty of Electrical and Control Engineering, Gdansk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12 str., 80-233 Gdansk, Poland
Usama Bin Qasim: Department of Electrical Engineering, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore 54792, Pakistan
Hassan Imran: Department of Electrical Engineering, GIFT University, Gujranwala 52250, Pakistan

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: Contact selectivity is a key parameter for enhancing and improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based solar cells. Carrier selective contacts (CSC) are the key technology which has the potential to achieve a higher PCE for c-Si-based solar cells closer to their theoretical efficiency limit. A recent and state-of-the-art approach in this domain is the tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) approach, which is completely different from the existing classical heterojunction solar cells. The main and core element of this contact is the tunnel oxide, and its main role is to cut back the minority carrier recombination at the interface. A state-of-the-art n-type c-Si-based TOPCon solar cell featuring a passivated rear contact was experimentally analyzed, and the highest PCE record of ~25.7% was achieved. It has a high fill factor (FF) of ~83.3%. These reported results prove that the highest efficiency potential is that of the passivated full area rear contact structures and it is more efficient than that of the partial rear contact (PRC) structures. In this paper, a review is presented which considers the key characteristics of TOPCon solar cells, i.e., minority carrier recombination, contact resistance, and surface passivation. Additionally, practical challenges and key issues related to TOPCon solar cells are also highlighted. Finally, the focus turns to the characteristics of TOPCon solar cells, which offer an improved and better understanding of doping layers and tunnel oxide along with their mutual and combined effect on the overall performance of TOPCon solar cells.

Keywords: carrier selective contacts; contact resistance; tunnel oxide passivated contact; renewable energy; surface passivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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