Effect of Peak Temperature

The peak temperature of the sintering process is observed as having a significant impact in determining the efficiency of the silicon solar cell. Studies by Carroll et al have reported a direct correlation between peak temperature and cell efficiency. The results from this study have shown that the ideal peak temperature range for metallization firing is 780-800 oC. Cheng et al has also studied the effects of various peak temperatures on the efficiency of solar cells and has confirmed the same results. The study observed that when the silicon solar cells are under fire, one half of the cells display high contact resistance while the other half displays low contact resistance. At the same time, when the solar cells are fired within the optimum range of 780-800 oC, the contact resistance has been reported as being uniform throughout the entire cell at higher efficiency. However, when the solar cells were over fired, there was an overall decrease in efficiency due to shunting. An investigation by Hilai et al has demonstrated similar phenomena. At lower temperatures, the distribution of Ag was irregular and the contact formed was very small with high specific contact resistance. However, at high temperatures, the excessive shunting resulted in a decrease in efficiency. Thus, from the results of the above studies, it can be observed that the peak firing temperature has an important role in determining the efficiency of the silicon solar cells.