SOLAR CELL HAVING A CONTACT STRUCTURE WITH LOW RECOMBINATION LOSSES, AND METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SUCH SOLAR CELLS

摘要

A concept for a highly efficient solar cell, especially on the basis of high-quality crystalline silicon, as well as a method for producing such a solar cell are disclosed. In the solar cell (1), a contact structure (3) is formed using a layered stack arrangement that comprises a first layer (19) made of an electrically insulating material, a second layer (21) made of a semiconductor material, and a third layer (22) made of an electrically conductive material. The first (dielectric) layer is disposed between the substrate (17) and the second (semiconducting) layer (21) and is designed in such a way that a significant degree of charge carrier tunneling can occur between the substrate (17) and the second layer (21) through the first layer (19). The semiconductor material of the solar cell substrate and the semiconductor material of the second layer have different electrical properties as a result of different band structures such that the electron/hole selectivity of the tunneling process within the contact structure can be influenced, thus allowing the recombination losses caused by the contact structure to be significantly reduced.