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307:. Due to the significantly higher production rate and steadily decreasing costs of poly-silicon, the market share of mono-Si has been decreasing: in 2013, monocrystalline solar cells had a market share of 36%, which translated into the production of 12.6 GW of photovoltaic capacity, but the market share had dropped below 25% by 2016. Despite the lowered market share, the equivalent mono-Si PV capacity produced in 2016 was 20.2 GW, indicating a significant increase in the overall production of photovoltaic technologies.
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295:(PV) devices. Since there are less stringent demands on structural imperfections compared to microelectronics applications, lower-quality solar-grade silicon (Sog-Si) is often used for solar cells. Despite this, the monocrystalline-silicon photovoltaic industry has benefitted greatly from the development of faster mono-Si production methods for the electronics industry.
350:
melting. Furthermore, even though mono-Si cells can absorb the majority of photons within 20 ÎĽm of the incident surface, limitations on the ingot sawing process mean commercial wafer thickness are generally around 200 ÎĽm. However, advances in technology are expected to reduce wafer thicknesses to 140 ÎĽm by 2026.
349:
requires cutting the circular wafers (a product of the cylindrical ingots formed through the
Czochralski process) into octagonal cells that can be packed closely together. The leftover material is not used to create PV cells and is either discarded or recycled by going back to ingot production for
201:
Compared to the casting of polycrystalline ingots, the production of monocrystalline silicon is very slow and expensive. However, the demand for mono-Si continues to rise due to the superior electronic properties—the lack of grain boundaries allows better charge carrier flow and prevents electron
181:
into the molten silicon. The rod is then slowly pulled upwards and rotated simultaneously, allowing the pulled material to solidify into a monocrystalline cylindrical ingot up to 2 meters in length and weighing several hundred kilograms. Magnetic fields may also be applied to control and suppress
336:
efficiencies for mono-Si—which are always lower than those of their corresponding cells—finally crossed the 20% mark for in 2012 and hit 24.4% in 2016. The high efficiency is largely attributable to the lack of recombination sites in the single crystal and better absorption of photons due to its
357:, which involves growing gaseous layers on reusable silicon substrates. Newer processes may allow growth of square crystals that can then be processed into thinner wafers without compromising quality or efficiency, thereby eliminating the waste from traditional ingot sawing and cutting methods.
275:(VLSI) devices, in which billions of transistor-based circuits, all of which must function reliably, are combined into a single chip to form a microprocessor. As such, the electronics industry has invested heavily in facilities to produce large single crystals of silicon.
337:
black color, as compared to the characteristic blue hue of poly-silicon. Since they are more expensive than their polycrystalline counterparts, mono-Si cells are useful for applications where the main considerations are limitations on weight or available area.
119:
properties, single-crystal silicon is perhaps the most important technological material of the last few decades—the "silicon era". Its availability at an affordable cost has been essential for the development of the electronic devices on which the
315:
With a recorded single-junction cell lab efficiency of 26.7%, monocrystalline silicon has the highest confirmed conversion efficiency out of all commercial PV technologies, ahead of poly-Si (22.3%) and established
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421:
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silicon is generally created by one of several methods that involve melting high-purity, semiconductor-grade silicon (only a few parts per million of impurities) and the use of a
190:, which move the crucible through a temperature gradient to cool it from the end of the container containing the seed. The solidified ingots are then sliced into thin
166:
to initiate the formation of a continuous single crystal. This process is normally performed in an inert atmosphere, such as argon, and in an inert crucible, such as
186:, which passes a polycrystalline silicon rod through a radiofrequency heating coil that creates a localized molten zone, from which a seed crystal ingot grows, and
406:
454:
Monkowski, J. R.; Bloem, J.; Giling, L. J.; Graef, M. W. M. (1979). "Comparison of dopant incorporation into polycrystalline and monocrystalline silicon".
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321:
228:. Ingots made by the Czochralski method are sliced into wafers about 0.75 mm thick and polished to obtain a regular, flat substrate, onto which
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can significantly impact the local electronic properties of the material, which in turn affects the functionality, performance, and reliability of
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Besides the low production rate, there are also concerns over wasted material in the manufacturing process. Creating space-efficient
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by interfering with their proper operation. For example, without crystalline perfection, it would be virtually impossible to build
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508:
Wang, C.; Zhang, H.; Wang, T. H.; Ciszek, T. F. (2003). "A continuous
Czochralski silicon crystal growth system".
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Being the second most common form of PV technology, monocrystalline silicon is ranked behind only its sister,
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Green, Martin A.; Hishikawa, Yoshihiro; Dunlop, Ewan D.; Levi, Dean H.; Hohl-Ebinger, Jochen;
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turbulent flow, further improving the uniformity of the crystallization. Other methods are
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A single continuous crystal is critical for electronics, since grain boundaries,
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Global market-share in terms of annual production by PV technology since 1980
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used in virtually all modern electronic equipment. Mono-Si also serves as a
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The primary application of monocrystalline silicon is in the production of
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of the entire solid is continuous, unbroken to its edges, and free of any
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206:—allowing improved performance of integrated circuits and photovoltaics.
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Other manufacturing methods are being researched, such as direct wafer
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Wenham, S. R.; Green, M. A.; Watt, M. E.; Corkish R. (2007).
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that consists only of exceedingly pure silicon, or it can be
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Form of silicon with a continuous, unbroken crystal lattice
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Monocrystalline silicon is also used for high-performance
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Crystal growth technology: semiconductors and dielectrics
498:, P.Siffert, E.F.Krimmel eds., Springer Verlag, 2004.
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72:, light-absorbing material in the manufacture of
415:made of octagonal monocrystalline silicon cells
177:, which dips a precisely oriented rod-mounted
707:"Crystal Solar and NREL Team Up to Cut Costs"
611:Intel enters billion-transistor processor era
496:Silicon: evolution and future of a technology
8:
173:The most common production technique is the
147:, which consists of small crystals known as
654:"Solar cell efficiency tables (version 51)"
131:Monocrystalline silicon differs from other
693:Solar Industry Technology Report 2015–2016
99:by the addition of other elements such as
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543:Capper, Peter; Rudolph, Peter (2010).
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638:, Fraunhofer ISE, February 26, 2018.
79:It consists of silicon in which the
580:(2nd ed.). London: Earthscan.
491:Silicon: the semiconductor material
400:on a monocrystalline silicon wafer
232:devices are built through various
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705:Scanlon, Bill (August 27, 2014).
91:). Mono-Si can be prepared as an
626:, Fraunhofer ISE, July 28, 2014.
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216:Semiconductor device fabrication
135:forms, such as non-crystalline
695:, Canadian Solar, October 2016.
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530:10.1016/s0022-0248(02)02241-8
614:, EE Times, 14 October 2005.
273:very large-scale integration
56:, is the base material for
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488:W.Heywang, K.H.Zaininger,
435:(left) and mono-Si (right)
252:of various materials, and
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510:Journal of Crystal Growth
265:crystallographic defects
194:during a process called
737:Group IV semiconductors
650:Ho-Baillie, Anita W. Y.
547:. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.
305:polycrystalline silicon
145:polycrystalline silicon
122:present-day electronics
93:intrinsic semiconductor
42:Monocrystalline silicon
396:devices fabricated by
318:thin-film technologies
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46:single-crystal silicon
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752:Allotropes of silicon
578:Applied photovoltaics
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269:semiconductor devices
141:thin-film solar cells
128:revolution is based.
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636:Photovoltaics Report
624:Photovoltaics Report
115:silicon. Due to its
44:, more often called
747:Silicon solar cells
522:2003JCrGr.250..209W
468:1979ApPhL..35..410M
378:of silicon forms a
236:processes, such as
226:integrated circuits
222:discrete components
188:Bridgman techniques
66:integrated circuits
62:discrete components
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175:Czochralski method
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376:crystal structure
254:photolithographic
137:amorphous silicon
16:(Redirected from
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355:epitaxial growth
242:ion implantation
234:microfabrication
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89:single crystal
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299:Market share
293:photovoltaic
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256:patterning.
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184:zone melting
179:seed crystal
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149:crystallites
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70:photovoltaic
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664:(1): 3–12.
429:solar cells
413:Solar panel
74:solar cells
48:, in short
731:Categories
716:2018-03-01
441:References
361:Appearance
330:a-Si cells
326:CdTe cells
322:CIGS cells
320:, such as
311:Efficiency
261:impurities
250:deposition
155:Production
133:allotropic
105:phosphorus
680:1099-159X
596:122927906
563:663434790
332:(10.2%).
324:(21.7%),
139:—used in
50:mono c-Si
742:Crystals
196:wafering
107:to make
87:(i.e. a
518:Bibcode
464:Bibcode
433:poly-Si
246:etching
60:-based
58:silicon
54:mono-Si
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263:, and
238:doping
192:wafers
168:quartz
113:n-type
109:p-type
494:, in
398:Intel
143:—and
101:boron
97:doped
711:NREL
676:ISSN
592:OCLC
582:ISBN
559:OCLC
549:ISBN
394:VLSI
374:The
224:and
164:seed
124:and
64:and
666:doi
526:doi
514:250
472:doi
240:or
111:or
103:or
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
