Improvement on surface texturing of single crystalline silicon for solar cells by saw-damage etching using an acidic solution

Texturing the surfaces of silicon wafer is one of the most important ways of increasing their efficiencies. The texturing process reduces the surface reflection loss through photon trapping, thereby increasing the short circuit current of the solar cell. The texturing of crystalline silicon was carried out using alkaline solutions. Such solutions resulted in anisotropic etching that leads to the formation of random pyramids. Before the texturing process was carried out, saw-damage etching was performed in order to remove the surface defects and damage caused by wire sawing. In general, potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution has been used for saw-damage etching. This etching results in a fairly flat surface. The results from this study showed that the outcome of the surface texturing is related to the original surface morphology of the silicon. It was found that saw-damage etching using an acidic solution improved the effects of the texturing. In this case, regular and small pyramids were formed on the surface of the silicon. This reduced the reflectance of the surface, thereby increased the short circuit current and the conversion efficiency of the solar cell.