Surface Passivation for c-Si

Beneq ALD industrial surface passivation of c-Si solar cells

The PV industry today needs to increase conversion efficiency without jeopardizing the economic and technical feasibility of industrial production. A proven means to improve the efficiency of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell wafers is surface passivation by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Passivation of the surface enhances the overall cell efficiency by prolonging the charge-carrier effective lifetime. Surface passivation by ALD is beneficial on both the front and rear surface of an n-type wafer.
 

Beneq ALD provides an efficient solution for surface passivation. The TFS NX300 Thin Film System, developed solely for the PV industry, is designed especially for industrial production of surface passivation (Al₂O₃) coating on c-Si solar cell wafers. The types of c-Si solar cell surfaces that benefit from ALD-based Al₂O₃ surface passivation include p- and n-type base (rear surface) and boron-doped p+ emitter (front surface).

Benefits of using Beneq ALD system

• 1 + percentage point increase in efficiency
• Completely conformal and pinhole-free
• Douple-sided coating in one step (for n-type)
• No plasma damage
• Low-temperature processing (150 - 250 °C)
• No atmospheric contamination

For customers to gain instant access to the benefits of ALD and Al₂O₃ surface passivation, prior to industrial production, Beneq offers contract coating services.

Beneq TFS NX300 Thin Film System for ALD

The TFS NX300 Thin Film System is a fully automatic in-line coating system designed for industrial-scale manufacturing of surface passivation coatings on crystalline silicon solar cell wafers. The system exhibits the following main properties.

• Industrial fully-automated production equipment
• Automatic cassette-to-cassette system
• Throughput 3900 wafers/h 
• Detailed setup subject to customer specifications

More information about the TFS NX300 is available on the TFS NX300 equipment page.

More information

Download Surface Passivation of c-Si Solar Cells brochure (pdf).