Brookfield, Conn.-based Trident Solar has developed a new single-step VersaEtch etchant and n-dopant material for inkjet selective emitter application of front contacts on crystalline solar cells.
Used with the Trident 256Jet-S printhead, the new VersaEtch material can match the enhanced cell efficiency and precise deposition performance (demonstrated 50 micron print) of other selective emitter approaches, while offering the additional benefits of being non-contact and single-step, the company says. Inkjet doping and etching with VersaEtch is a hybrid process that can be used together with either screenprinting or electroplating of metallized contacts.
‘Manufacturers wanted a single-step, non-contact process that would enable more efficient front contacts by etching through the SiNx ARC layer then diffusion doping the silicon emitter,’ says Steve Liker, director of sales and marketing at Trident Solar. ‘This selective-emitter approach can decouple the metallization process from the etching-doping process, maximizing the results of both areas.’
The material was developed and is manufactured by Alpha PV Technologies for Trident Solar as the result of a collaborative effort of both companies.