Laser Technology for Customizing Silicon Solar Cells

In-line process-induced defects in crystalline silicon solar cells may be avoided and repaired by adopting laser-based product customization techniques. This paper presents a novel laser-assisted customization approach for defected solar cells in which two significant solar cell manufacturing improvements are combined: A laser cutting technique that minimizes potential shunting of solar cells in addition to a corrective step to isolate already existing shunts. The objective was to establish a laser-cutting machine as an alternative to the conventional solar cell cutting methods, where laser-cutting properties are exploited to minimize shunts commonly associated with mechanical solar cell cutting mechanisms. The proposed proof-of-concept also integrates a corrective approach to isolate existing shunts by utilizing thermal imaging and processing to identify, localize then repair shunted regions on the solar cell.