Chapter 8: Plated Contacts

The solar cell metallization approach discussed in this chapter differs from the ones discussed otherwise in this book in its property that the metal contact is composed of different layers, all of which are designed to ideally fulfil their role in the solar cell contact. These roles range from creating the electrical contact with the semiconductor substrate (seed layer, either plated or deposited otherwise), over the function of current conduction (highly conductive plated layer), to the compatibility with the module integration (plated capping layer). The contact system is thus more flexible, better performing and can be adjusted more precisely to the technological needs of the solar cell, but on the other hand the process complexity is typically higher. This chapter focuses on the contacting of silicon in cell concepts where a silicon wafer is coated with a dielectric passivation and antireflection coating. Other cell concepts (silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells, tandem solar cells, etc.) may also be metallized with plating.