Methods for forming back contact electrodes for cadmium telluride photovoltaic cells
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsBastiaan Arie Korevaar, Juan Carlos Rojo, Roman Shuba
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for forming a back contact for a photovoltaic cell that includes at least one semiconductor layer is provided. The method includes applying a continuous film of a chemically active material on a surface of the semiconductor layer and activating the chemically active material such that the activated material etches the surface of the semiconductor layer. The method further includes removing the continuous film of the activated material from the photovoltaic cell and depositing a metal contact layer on the etched surface of the semiconductor layer.
Claims19
A method for forming a back contact for a photovoltaic cell that includes at least one semiconductor layer, the method comprising:
- applying a continuous film of a chemically active material on an entire surface of the semiconductor layer, wherein the semiconductor layer comprises cadmium telluride (CdTe);
- activating the chemically active material such that the activated material etches the surface of the semiconductor layer, wherein activating the chemically active material makes the surface of the CdTe layer tellurium (Te)-rich;
- removing the continuous film of the activated material from the photovoltaic cell;
- and
- depositing a metal contact layer on the etched surface of the semiconductor layer.
A method for forming a back contact for a photovoltaic cell that includes at least one cadmium telluride (CdTe) layer, the method comprising:
- applying a continuous film of a chemically active material on an entire surface of the CdTe layer;
- activating the chemically active material such that the surface of the CdTe layer is enriched with tellurium (Te);
- removing the continuous film of the activated material from the photovoltaic cell;
- and
- depositing a metal contact layer on the Te enriched surface of the CdTe layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.