Impact of Nickel Silicide Rear Metallization on the Series Resistance of Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells

The silicon‐based solar cell is one of the most important enablers toward high‐efficiency, low‐cost clean energy resources. Metallization of silicon‐based solar cells typically utilizes screen‐printed silver–aluminum (Ag–Al), which improves the cells′ electrical performance. To date, metal silicide‐based ohmic contacts are occasionally used as an alternative candidate only to the front‐contact grid lines in crystalline silicon (c‐Si)‐based solar cells. In this study, we investigate the electrical characteristics of nickel mono‐silicide (NiSi)/Cu–Al ohmic contact on the rear side of c‐Si solar cells. We observe a significant enhancement in the fill factor of approximately 6.5 % for NiSi/Cu–Al rear contacts, thereby leading to an increase in the efficiency by 1.2 % compared to Ag–Al. This is attributed to the improvement of the parasitic resistance in which the series resistance decreased by 0.737 Ω cm−2. Further, we complement experimental observation with a simulation of different contact resistance values, which shows the NiSi/Cu–Al rear contact to be a promising low‐cost metallization for c‐Si solar cells with enhanced efficiency. Silicide solution: Metal silicide‐based ohmic contacts are occasionally used as an alternative candidate only to the front contact grid lines in crystalline silicon (c‐Si)‐based solar cells. In this study, the authors investigate the electrical characteristics of nickel mono‐silicide (NiSi)/Cu–Al ohmic contact on the rear side of c‐Si solar cells compared to Ag–Al metallization.