Self-Aligned Series Connection of an Amorphous Silicon p-i-n Type Solar Cell Using Aluminum Oblique Deposition for Minimum Power Loss

Abstract

We fabricated a self-aligned series connection of an amorphous silicon p-i-n type solar cell with a small dead area of 10 mu m using oblique deposition (OD). An OD on a trench can readily pattern an evaporated aluminum (Al) layer. The fabrication process consists of forming trenches on a glass substrate, depositing and texturing ZnO:Al, Al OD for auxiliary electrode, depositing p-i-n layers, Al OD, dry etching the p-i-n layers, and Al OD to connect the front electrode to the back electrode in series. The predicted fractional power loss of our series connected solar module was under 1%.