Nanoparticles-aided silver front contact paste for crystalline silicon solar cells

High-dispersive spherical silver nanoparticles were prepared by solvothemal process, using ethylene glycol as solvent and reducing agent. The silver nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction and FESEM to analyze the size, shape and morphology. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) pattern indicated that the silver nanoparticles were well-crystallized with no crystallographic impurities. The average size calculated by Debye-scherrer's fomula was 48 nm, which well agreed with the result of FESEM. From the FESEM, it was demonstrated that the silver nanoparticles were high-dispersive and spherical in shape. Thick silver films were prepared by screen-printing using the front contact silver paste containing the as-prepared silver nanoparticles. The experimental results indicated that the silver nanoparticles were favor to sintering of micro-size silver particles, and contributed to improve the photovoltaic performances of crystalline silicon solar cells.