The commercial application of light induced electroplating for improving the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells

This paper describes the development of an industrial process for increasing the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells by improving the front grid line conductivity without a concurrent increase in shading loss. The methodology to achieve this was to deposit silver (Ag) metal using light induced plating (LIP) onto a seed layer grid of conventional thick film screen printed Ag paste and apply this on an industrial scale. The feasibility of this technique had been previously reported on a laboratory scale with a cyanide based Ag electrolyte [1]. This paper details how this methodology was implemented in an industrial setting but using a non-cyanide Ag plating electrolyte and purpose built in line horizontal equipment. The capability of achieving efficiency gains typically between 0.2 - 0.4% absolute is shown.