METHOD FOR PRODUCING A SOLAR CELL

1 - 15 . (canceled)

16 . A method for producing a solar cell from a silicon substrate, which has a first main surface used in normal application as an incident light side, and a second main surface used as a back surface, the second main surface having a passivating layer thereon, the method comprising:

applying an oxide-containing layer to the second main surface ( 4 ) of the silicon substrate; and

heating the silicon substrate to a temperature of at least 800° C. to density the oxide-containing layer and for oxidation of a boundary surface between the oxide-containing layer and the second main surface of the silicon substrate to form a thermal oxide, an oxygen source giving off oxygen for the oxidation.

17 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein a process atmosphere including at least one of O 2 and H 2 O functions as the oxygen source.

18 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the oxide-containing layer includes at least one of SiO 2 , ZrO 2 , SiO a N b and SiO a C b , and is permeable to oxygen, where each b<<a.

19 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the oxide-containing layer includes SiO 2 , and is applied onto the second main surface of the silicon substrate by a CVD method or a PECVD method by using SiH 4 .

20 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the oxide-containing layer includes at least one of a hyperstoichiometric oxide, SiO 2+x :H, an oxide having lower density, a hygroscopic oxide, BSG, PSG and TEOS oxide, and the oxide-containing layer functions as the oxygen source.

21 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:

etching away from the first main surface a silicon oxide layer created during the heating of the silicon substrate; and

etching away from the second main surface a part of the oxide-containing layer.

22 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:

after the application of the oxide-containing layer, diffusing into the first and second main surfaces a doping agent including at least one of boron, boron tribromide, phosphorus, and phosphorus oxychloride, the doping agent diffusing, during the heating of the silicon substrate, into the first main surface, and the oxide-containing layer functioning as a masking layer of the second main surface during the heating.

23 . The method according to claim 22 , further comprising:

etching away from at least one of the first main surface and the second main surface the doping agent-silicon compound layers created during the heating of the silicon substrate.

24 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:

before the application of the oxide-containing layer, applying to at least one of the first main surface and the second main surface a surface patterning.

25 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:

before the application of the oxide-containing layer, planarizing the second main surface.

26 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:

before the application of the oxide-containing layer, scrubbing at least one of the first main surface and the second main surface using HNO 3 .

27 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:

diffusing or implanting boron or phosphorus into the second main surface for producing a back-surface-field (BSF) layer, which is activated by the heating of the silicon substrate.

28 . The method according to claim 21 , further comprising:

after the etching of the first and second main surfaces, applying a SiN antireflection layer to at least one of the first main surface and the oxide-containing layer of the second main surface.

29 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:

before the application of the oxide-containing layer, producing one or more holes through the silicon substrate for connecting the first main surface to the second main surface using a laser,

30 . The method according to claim 16 , further comprising, before the application of the oxide-containing layer:

diffusing into the first and second main surfaces a doping agent including at least one of boron, boron tribromide, phosphorus, and phosphorus oxychloride, the doping agent diffusing into the silicon substrate by the heating of the silicon substrate to form an emitter layer on the first main surface and an emitter layer on the second main surface;

etching away from at least one of the first main surface and the second main surface the doping agent-glass layers created by the heating of the silicon substrate;

applying a masking layer including SiN to the first main surface; and

removing the emitter layer of the second main surface by etching, the SiN layer functioning as a masking layer of the first main surface during the removing.