Simplified cleaning for 22.5% nPERT solar cells with rear epitaxial emitters

•J0e on flat surface is about 1.7x lower than for textured surface which is due to the 1.7x larger effective surface in case of texturization.•Sulfur-free cleans based on ozonated water and HCl reveal the best electrical characterization on J0e and lowest costs of maintenance.•We report on same high level performance for well-established SPM cleanings, as well as for low cost IPV cleanings.

We have studied the effect of different cleanings at device level for nPERT (passivated Emitter, Rear Totally diffused) cells with a rear epitaxial emitter. Cleanings based on sulfuric acid and peroxide mixtures (SPM), which are effective but also expensive, were used as reference. We found that simplified cleanings such as those based on sulfuric acid and ozone mixtures (SOM), and those based on water and ozone (IPV), are giving similar results at device level as the expensive SPM cleaning, leading to similar J0e, J0, FSF, and lifetime values. The implied VOC values of corresponding test devices fabricated using the simplified cleanings are at the same high level as the test devices using more expensive SPM cleanings. Actual nPERT devices with moderately doped epitaxially-grown emitters with a constant doping profile (box profile) showed average efficiencies above 22.0% for both SOM and IPV cleanings. Very high VOC values of up to 695 mV and implied VOC values of up to 730 mV were shown for cells with a flat rear surface. Finally, the best nPERT cells with rear epitaxial emitter and SOM cleaning showed efficiencies up to 22.5%, as externally confirmed by ISE CalLab.