Efficient ITO–Si solar cells and power modules fabricated with a low temperature technology: Results and perspectives

ITO–SiOx–nSi semiconductor–insulator–semiconductor (SIS) structures have been produced with a simple spraying technique. It is shown that the structures obtained in such a way may be considered as an induced p–n diode, in which the polycrystalline tin–doped indium oxide (ITO) layer spray deposited on the preliminary treated silicon surface leads to an inversion p-layer at the interface. Solar cells with an active area of 1–4 cm2 have been fabricated based on ITO–SiOx–nSi structures and studied. Under AM0 illumination conditions, the efficiency is nearly 11%, whereas it exceeds 12% for AM1.5 illumination conditions. The theoretical analysis provided in this work shows a good agreement with experimental results and allows for predicting the efficiency of the cells depending on the silicon electro-physical properties.