Phosphorous gettering in acidic textured multicrystalline solar cells

The influence of phosphorus gettering is studied in this work applied to an acidic textured multicrystalline silicon substrate. The texturization was achieved with an HF/HNO3 solution leading to nanostructures on the silicon surface. It has been demonstrated in previous works that this textured surface decreases the reflectance on the solar cell and increases the surface area improving the photon collection and enhancing the short circuit current. The present study investigates the effect on the minority carrier lifetime of the phosphorous diffusion when it is carried out on this textured surface. The lifetime is measured by means microwave photoconductance decay and quasi steady state phototoconductance devices. The diffused textured wafers are used to fabricate solar cells and their electrical parameters are analyzed.