Effect of porous silicon stain etched on large area alkaline textured crystalline silicon solar cells

This work shows the effects of porous silicon stain etched on alkaline textured antireflection coatings of large area monocrystalline silicon solar cells. The texturization process has been produced by immersion of the silicon wafers in different carbonate-based solutions. The porous silicon layers were formed by stain etching in a HNO3/HF aqueous solution before or after the texturization process. We study the effects of different alkaline and acidic solutions and the etching times on the solar cell parameters and the surface reflectance of the device. We have found that the average reflectance of the surface is lowered when the porous etching is combined with the texturization in the alkaline solution. However, the solar cell characteristics are not improved.