Abstract
Solar-grade Si can be recycled from end-of-life crystalline-Si solar cells and this recycled Si can be a new feedstock for growth of Si ingots. This study focuses on removing heavily-doped layers from crystalline-Si solar cells and extracting the Si base for recycling. The solar cells used in the study are commercial cells without the front Ag electrode. It is demonstrated that the heavily-doped layers can be removed within 30 min at 50°C, and over 90% of the Si in the original cells can be recovered. Our method is simple and green, involving only three chemicals, HCl, HF and NaOH. In addition, a technique to monitor the removal of the heavily-doped layers based on four-point probe is illustrated.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 2015 IEEE 42nd Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2015 |
| Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781479979448 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 14 2015 |
| Event | 42nd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2015 - New Orleans, United States Duration: Jun 14 2015 → Jun 19 2015 |
Other
| Other | 42nd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2015 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | New Orleans |
| Period | 6/14/15 → 6/19/15 |
Keywords
- crystalline-Si solar cells
- end-of-life Si solar cells
- four-point probe
- recycling
- silicon feedstock
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials