Emitter wrap-through solar cells – status and perspectives

By Arne Fallisch; James Gee; Daniel Biro

Crystalline silicon wafer technology currently dominates industrial solar cell production. Common devices feature opposing electrodes situated at the front and the rear surface of the wafer, and subsequent front-to-rear interconnection is used for module assembly. This paper describes the status and perspectives of the emitter wrapthrough (EWT) cell concept, which is a fully back-contacted solar cell. The functions which have to be fulfilled for this concept, as well as the corresponding challenges and advances, are discussed.