Laser processes for the industrial production of high efficiency silicon solar cells

Laser processing of crystalline silicon solar cells has basically been limited to the edge isolation process for standard screen-printed structures. In this paper the potential of some further steps like selective ablation of dielectric layers, ablation of silicon material, laser doping and the generation of laser-fired contacts, which are currently under investigation at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) is explained by either theoretical considerations or experimental results. Furthermore, a quick overview over the current laser sources and their applicability in the crystalline silicon solar cell market is given.