title: Inexpensive transparent nanoelectrode for crystalline silicon solar cells.
abstract: We report an easily manufacturable and inexpensive transparent conductive electrode for crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. It is based on a silver nanoparticle network self-forming in the valleys between the pyramids of a textured solar cell surface, transformed into a nanowire network by sintering, and subsequently "buried" under the silicon surface by a metal-assisted chemical etching. We have successfully incorporated these steps into the conventional c-Si solar cell manufacturing process, from which we have eliminated the expensive screen printing and firing steps, typically used to make the macro-electrode of conducting silver fingers. The resulting, preliminary solar cell achieved power conversion efficiency only 14 % less than the conventionally processed c-Si control cell. We expect that a cell with an optimized processing will achieve at least efficiency of the conventional commercial cell, but at significantly reduced manufacturing cost.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.|Laboratory of Nanoscale Energy Conversion Devices and Physics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ruopeng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Electronic Paper Displays Institute, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510006, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guofu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.|Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jun-Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.|Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, 02467, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kempa
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) and Laboratory of Quantum Engineering and Quantum Materials, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China. gaojw@scnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jinwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
keywords: Antireflection coating; Crystalline silicon solar cells; Metal-assisted chemical etching; Metallic nanowire networks; Photovoltaics