Conductives inks

So far, the third generation solar cell metal contact depositions have been performed by thermal evaporation techniques. However, if Perovskite solar cells are to reach the commercial stage, it is necessary to evaluate the introduction of alternative metallization techniques which could address larger active areas, while reducing the manufacturing costs. On the metallization side, one of these techniques is screen printing.

Since 2015, the Laboratory of Solar Cells (SiCelLab) form the Instituto Tecnológico y de Energías Renovables has been working on the screen printing approach for solar cells by, originally, performing trials with different commercial frit based pastes and inks, such as aluminum and silver pastes, commonly used in crystalline silicon solar cell technologies, as well as silver inks, also commonly used in polyester and polymeric film depositions. Currently, most of the Laboratory R&D efforts are dedicated to develop inks based on graphite powders, epoxy resins and anhydrous solvents, due to their inherent low cost and processing temperatures.

Research results from this project were published at different forums and journals. The following contributions are listed in chronological order:

  • Conductive inks with epoxy resin based vehicles for perovskite screen printing metallization as a viable and low-cost alternative to thermal evaporation. In this paper, new advances in the research carried out by the ITER cell laboratory (SiCelLab) are presented, regarding the development of inks for the metallization of substrates using techniques of screen printing. These inks are based on the use of vehicles comprised by epoxy resins and non polar anhydrous solvents, which are applied over perovskite based solar cells. [Local] [EUPVSEC]
  • Journal Tecnica y Tecnología. October 2016. “Desarrollo de tintas conductivas para la metalización por serigrafía de células solares de perovskita”.  Review of the laboratory researches advances about the conductive screen printing inks for third generation. [Link]
  • Conductive inks with epoxy resin based vehicles for perovskite screen printing metallization. Asses several screen printing inks based on graphite powders, epoxy resins and anhydrous solvents. [Local] [EUPVSEC]
  • Screen printing for Perovskite solar cells metallization. New research advances about metallization processes by screen printing method with silver pastes and inks. [Local] [EUPVSEC]