Numerical Analysis of Dendritic Growth on Textured Silicon Wafer in Inkjet-Printed Solar Cell Metallization

Inkjet-printed solar cell metallization is considered as a significant alternative with intrinsic non-contact features. The solidification of metallic silver on the silicon wafer directly affects the Ag/Si contact of printed finger electrode and needs to be well understood. To this end, a 3D LB model coupled with CA algorithms is established to analyze the dendritic growth in the solidification process. The regular pyramid model is developed to mimic the textured silicon wafer. In equiaxed dendrites evolutions, the typical dendritic microstructures are reproduced, which validate the present model. In columnar dendritic growth, secondary and tertiary dendrites are accelerated due to the textured features of silicon wafer. We also present the competitive evolutions of equiaxed and columnar dendrites, and thereby, the final dendrite morphology and distributions in the finger electrodes. The numerical analysis for the dendritic growth could help optimize the inkjet-printed solar cell metallization process.

Automated summary

Inkjet-printed solar cell metallization is an important non-contact alternative, and the solidification of metallic silver on the silicon wafer directly affects the Ag/Si contact of printed finger electrode. In this study, a 3D LB model coupled with CA algorithms is established to analyze the dendritic growth during solidification. The model successfully reproduces the typical dendritic microstructures and shows that the textured features of the silicon wafer accelerate the growth of secondary and tertiary dendrites. The numerical analysis of dendritic growth can help optimize the inkjet-printed solar cell metallization process.