Solar cell interconnects and method of fabricating same

1. A method of fabricating a solar cell comprising:

providing a substructure comprising an absorber over a back contact having a P 1 line therein; and

scribing a P 2 line through said absorber by:

mechanical scribing; and

laser scribing after said mechanical scribing.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein said providing step comprises:

providing a substrate;

depositing said back contact over said substrate;

scribing said P 1 line through said back contact; and

depositing said absorber over said back contact and within said P 1 line.

3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein said scribing step comprises:

moving a scribing tip along an area of said substructure to cut a trench, wherein a light source follows said scribing tip; and

focusing a beam from said light source on residue within said trench.

4. The method as in claim 3 , wherein a width covered by said beam comprises at least 50% of a width covered by said scribing tip.

5. The method as in claim 3 , wherein a width covered by said beam comprises about 50% to 95% of a width covered by said scribing tip.

6. The method as in claim 1 , wherein said substructure further comprises an interface layer between said back contact and said absorber; and said scribing step further scribes said P 2 line through said interface layer.

7. The method as in claim 6 , wherein said scribing step comprises:

moving a scribing tip along an area of said substructure to cut a trench, wherein a light source follows said scribing tip; and

focusing a beam from said light source on a portion of said interface layer within said trench.

8. The method as in claim 1 , wherein said scribing step is performed with an integrated scriber comprising:

a scribing tip; and

a light source mounted adjacent said scribing tip and operable concurrently with said scribing tip.

9. The method as in claim 1 , wherein said scribing step further comprises collecting particles from said P 2 line.

10. The method as in claim 9 , wherein said scribing step comprises:

moving a scribing tip along an area of said substructure to cut a trench, wherein a light source follows said scribing tip and a particle collector follows said light source;

focusing a beam from said light source on residue within said trench; and

removing particles from said trench with said particle collector.

11. A method of fabricating a solar cell comprising:

providing a substructure comprising an absorber over a back contact having a P 1 line therein;

scribing a P 2 line through said absorber by:

mechanical scribing to cut a trench in the substructure and

laser scribing within the trench after said mechanical scribing; and

depositing a front contact over the absorber and within the trench, wherein the front contact directly connects with the back contact in the P 2 line.

12. The method as in claim 11 , wherein said scribing step further comprises removing absorber residue from within the trench.

13. The method as in claim 11 , wherein said scribing step further comprises removing an interface layer from within the trench.

14. The method as in claim 11 , wherein said substructure further comprises an interface layer between the back contact and absorber and said P 2 line is scribed though the interface layer.

15. The method as in claim 14 , wherein said interface layer comprises Mo(SeS) x .

16. A method of fabricating a solar cell comprising:

providing a substructure comprising an absorber over a back contact having a P 1 line therein; and

scribing a P 2 line through said absorber by:

mechanical scribing with a scribing tip; and

laser scribing with a light source after said mechanical scribing, wherein said scribing tip and light source are mounted on a movable base.

17. The method as in claim 16 , wherein said scribing tip and light source are applied to the substructure concurrently.

18. The method as in claim 16 , wherein a beam is applied from said light source having a wavelength ranging from about 1100 nm to about 1250 nm.

19. The method as in claim 16 , wherein a beam is applied from said light source having a power ranging from about 0.1 W to about 5 W.

20. The method as in claim 16 , wherein said movable base further comprises a particle collector mounted adjacent said light source; and the scribing step further comprises removing absorber residue with the particle collector.