ABSTRACT
In this paper, we report on the development of amorphous silicon solar cells on flexible plastic substrates, aiming at a future large scale production of low cost solar cells for building integration. The developments includc in particular the application of VHF-plasma deposition to the fabrication of tandem and triple stacked cells, as well as the integration of such cells onto metal building materials. As a result, at 80 MHz plasma excitation frequency, triple cell modules of 20cm x 30cm area and an active area efficiency of 4.1% have been successfully produced at i-layer deposition rates of 6.5 A/s on polyimide film substrate, with a total silicon deposition time of only 23 min. In parallel, similar single junction solar modules have been successfully laminated onto aluminum building panels, confirming the fundamental feasibility of combining amorphous silicon foil modules with standard low-cost building materials.
