Method of manufacturing point contact solar cells and apparatus using the same

A method of manufacturing a point-contact solar cell, comprising:

• providing a solar cell, wherein the solar cell comprises a silicon substrate, an anti-reflective layer on the silicon substrate, and a metallic electrode disposed on the anti-reflective layer;
• applying a high-frequency pulsed voltage comprising pulse-on time and pulse-off time to the solar cell using a pulsed power supply, wherein the high-frequency pulsed voltage is a reverse bias voltage and is not less than a breakdown voltage of the solar cell;
• and
• illuminating and scanning the solar cell using a laser at a power density of greater than 10 W/m2 under the applied high-frequency pulsed voltage,
• wherein, during the pulse-on time, photoelectric effect is induced by illumination from the laser, locally generating high current and heat in the silicon substrate, and the anti-reflective layer beneath the metallic electrode subjected to the high-frequency pulsed voltage is sintered through, thereby causing metal contained in the metallic electrode to diffuse into the silicon substrate and thus to form at least one conductive region at an exposed interface of the silicon substrate,
• wherein, during the pulse-off time, the anti-reflective layer beneath the metallic electrode unaffected by the high-frequency pulsed voltage remains on the silicon substrate.