Benjamin Thaidigsmann

This work investigates sintered, screen-printed silver contacts on lowly doped p-type silicon with different intermediate dielectric layer systems using scanning electron microscopy and dark current-voltage measurements. The data reveal electron tunneling through a thin insulating layer as the most probable transport mechanism. A model based on Fowler-Nordheim and direct tunneling is presented that allows for the description of reverse current-voltage characteristics and the extraction of effective contact properties. The investigated screen-printed metal insulator semiconductor structures are proposed as solar cell integrated bypass that reduces the risk of hot spot generation and power loss during partial shading of a module. Furthermore, the integrated bypass approach enables the fabrication of solar cells from silicon material that tends to show early breakdown of the p-n-junction.