Silicon Solar Cell with Nanoporous Structure Formed on a Textured Surface

A nanoporous silicon (Si) surface was formed on monocrystalline silicon solar cells by electrochemical etching. The galvanostatic mode was applied to conventional n-p-p(+) solar cells, which were fabricated by pyramidal texturing, phosphorous diffusion, screen-printing, rapid thermal firing, and laser isolation (effective area of 144.7 cm(2)). Without an additional antireflection layer such as SiNx, the anodic reaction of the Si wafer could provide uniform porous layers on a pyramidal surface (111) with relatively low reflectance, and it would improve the photovoltaic performance.