Role of Teo2 in the Metallization of Ag Electrodes for Crystalline Si Solar Cells

Glass frits, as a critical ingredient, plays an important role in silver paste and determine sintering properties of the silive paste and contact quality with silicon solar cells. Here glass frits with different contents of TeO 2 additive were prepared and used to investigate the sintering process of Ag paste on crystalline Si (c-Si) solar cells. Microstructure and electrical properties of the corresponding Ag grids and the resulted c-Si solar cell performance were characterized systematically. The results show that TeO 2 can improve the densification and conductive performance of the Ag grids. Moreover, TeO 2 can promote the growth of Ag nanocrystallites in the glass layer between the Ag grid and c-Si wafer, thus reduce the contact resistance of the Ag grid. However, excessive TeO 2 addtive has a negative influence on the conductivity of the Ag grid due to the increased thickness of the glass layer. Therefore, the content of TeO 2 should be compromised for the solar cell to realize high conversion efficiency