A base-metal conductor system for silicon solar cells

Solder, copper, and silver are evaluated as conductor layer metals for silicon solar cell metallization on the basis of metal price stability and reliability under operating conditions. Due to its properties and cost, copper becomes an attractive candidate for the conductor layer. It is shown that nickel operates as an excellent diffusion barrier between copper and silicon while simultaneously serving as an electrical contact and mechanical contact to silicon. The nickel-copper system may be applied to the silicon by plating techniques utilizing a variety of plating bath compositions. Solar cells having excellent current-voltage characteristics are fabricated to demonstrate the nickel-copper metallization system.