IP Library Granted Patent US 11,245,047
Granted Patent B2
US 11,245,047 · App. 16/737,461 · Granted Feb 8, 2022

Method of manufacturing solar cell

Inventors: Won Jae Chang (Seoul, KR); Young Gu Do (Seoul, KR); Sung Jin Kim (Seoul, KR); Ju Hwa Cheong (Seoul, KR); Jun Yong Ahn (Seoul, KR); Hae Jong Cho (Seoul, KR); Ji Soo Ko (Seoul, KR)
Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
H01L31/182H01L31/02168H01L31/02363H01L31/022425H01L31/0747
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,245,047
App. No.
16/737,461
Granted
Feb 8, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

Provided are a method of manufacturing a solar cell, including a polycrystalline silicon layer forming operation of forming a polycrystalline silicon layer containing a first dopant on a back surface of a semiconductor substrate formed of a single crystal silicon material including a base region, a front texturing operation of texturing a front surface of the semiconductor substrate and simultaneously removing the polycrystalline silicon layer formed on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate, a second conductive region forming operation of forming a second conductive region by diffusing a second dopant on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate, a passivation layer forming operation of forming a first passivation layer on the polycrystalline silicon layer formed on the back surface of the semiconductor substrate and forming a second passivation layer on the second conductive region of the front surface of the semiconductor substrate, and an electrode forming operation of forming a first electrode connected to the polycrystalline silicon layer through the first passivation layer and forming a second electrode layer at the second conductive region through the second passivation layer.

Claims (35)

1. A method of manufacturing a solar cell, the method comprising:

a polycrystalline silicon layer forming operation of forming a polycrystalline silicon layer containing a first dopant on a back surface, on side surfaces and at edge portions of the front surface of a semiconductor substrate formed of a single crystal silicon material including a base region;

a front surface texturing operation of texturing a front surface of the semiconductor substrate and simultaneously removing the polycrystalline silicon layer formed at a first portion of the side surfaces of the semiconductor substrate and the edge portions of the front surface of the semiconductor substrate;

a second conductive region forming operation of diffusing a second dopant on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate to form a second conductive region;

a passivation layer forming operation of forming a first passivation layer on the polycrystalline silicon layer formed on the back surface of the semiconductor substrate and forming a second passivation layer on the second conductive region on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate; and

an electrode forming operation of forming a first electrode connected to the polycrystalline silicon layer through the first passivation layer and forming a second electrode at the second conductive region through the second passivation layer,

wherein in the front surface texturing operation, the polycrystalline silicon layer remains in a second portion of the side surfaces of the semiconductor substrate excluding the first portion.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the second conductive region forming operation comprises:

a dopant layer forming operation of forming a dopant layer having a second dopant on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate; and

a heat treatment operation of heat-treating the semiconductor substrate to diffuse the second dopant of the dopant layer to the front surface of the semiconductor substrate.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

forming a control passivation layer on the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate, before the forming of the polycrystalline silicon layer.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein

the control passivation layer and the polycrystalline silicon layer formed on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate are simultaneously removed in the front surface texturing operation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the front surface texturing operation is performed through wet etching.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein

in the wet etching, in a state where the front surface of the semiconductor substrate is in contact with a roller partially immersed in a texturing etching solution, when the roller rotates, the texturing etching solution present on the surface of the roller etches the front surface of the semiconductor substrate to form textured depressions and protrusions on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein

in the heat treatment operation,

the first dopant is activated to cause the polycrystalline silicon layer to be formed as a first conductive region, and

the second dopant is diffused and activated on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate to form the second conductive region on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

a mask forming operation of forming a mask layer for preventing texturing etching, on the polycrystalline silicon layer of the back surface of the semiconductor substrate, between the polycrystalline silicon layer forming operation and the front surface texturing operation.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein

the mask forming operation comprises:

forming the mask layer on the entire surface of the polycrystalline silicon layer and on the entire front surface of the semiconductor substrate; and

removing a portion of the mask layer other than a portion thereof formed on the polycrystalline silicon layer positioned on the back surface of the semiconductor substrate.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein

the front surface texturing operation is performed in a state where the mask layer is formed on the back surface of the semiconductor substrate, and

in a state where the front surface of the semiconductor substrate with the mask layer formed thereon is in contact with a roller partially immersed in a texturing etching solution, when the roller rotates, the texturing etching solution present on the roller etches the front surface of the semiconductor substrate to form textured depressions and protrusions on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate or

the semiconductor substrate having the mask layer is immersed in the texturing etching solution filled in a bath to form the textured depressions and protrusions on the front surface of the semiconductor substrate.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein

in the front surface texturing operation, the polycrystalline silicon layer remains on the entire back surface of the semiconductor substrate.

Assignments (3)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 11, 2023
From: SHANGRAO JINKO SOLAR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD
To: SHANGRAO XINYUAN YUEDONG TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO. LTD
Reel/Frame 066044/0299 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 28, 2022
From: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
To: SHANGRAO JINKO SOLAR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD
Reel/Frame 061571/0754 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 19, 2020
From: CHANG, WON JAE; DO, YOUNG GU; KIM, SUNG JIN; CHEONG, JU HWA; AHN, JUN YONG; CHO, HAE JONG; KO, JI SOO
To: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
Reel/Frame 051854/0243 →
Priority Claims (2)
KR 10-2019-0002792 · Jan 9, 2019 · national
KR 10-2019-0007668 · Jan 21, 2019 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200220039A1 · Jul 9, 2020