Patents by Inventor Hiroyuki Ohtsuka

Hiroyuki Ohtsuka has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20200274009
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solar cell, including the steps of: forming unevenness on both of main surfaces of a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; forming a base layer on a first main surface of the semiconductor substrate; forming a diffusion mask on the base layer; removing the diffusion mask in a pattern; forming an emitter layer on the portion of the first main surface where the diffusion mask have been removed; removing the remaining diffusion mask; forming a dielectric film on the first main surface; forming a base electrode on the base layer; and forming an emitter electrode on the emitter layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 12, 2020
    Publication date: August 27, 2020
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Ryo MITTA, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Patent number: 10756223
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solar cell having preparing a semiconductor substrate having a dielectric film on at least a first main surface, partially removing the dielectric film of the semiconductor substrate, and forming an electrode along a region where the dielectric film is partially removed, including measuring relative positional relationship between a position of a region where the dielectric film is partially removed and a position of the formed electrode in the semiconductor substrate after partially removing the dielectric film and forming the electrode, wherein for a newly prepared semiconductor substrate having a dielectric film on at least a first main surface, the dielectric film is partially removed after adjusting a position of a region based on the measured positional relationship. This improves the yield ratio of the solar cell by reducing positional displacement between the region where the dielectric film is partially removed and the electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori Watabe, Ryo Mitta, Hiroshi Hashigami, Hiroyuki Ohtsuka
  • Publication number: 20200227584
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a solar cell including: preparing a semiconductor silicon substrate which has an electrode, which is formed by baking an electrode precursor containing Ag powder on at least one main surface, has a PN junction, and is less than 100° C.; and performing an annealing treatment to the semiconductor silicon substrate at 100° C. or more and 450° C. or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2020
    Publication date: July 16, 2020
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Patent number: 10700223
    Abstract: A solar battery cell including a finger electrode on a first main surface of a semiconductor substrate, the solar battery cell being including at least a surface of the finger electrode is covered with a material containing an insulating material so that the surface is not exposed, and the material containing the insulating material does not hydrolyze or does not generate a carboxylic acid when it hydrolyzes. Consequently, it is possible to provide a solar battery cell which suppresses a reduction in photoelectric conversion efficiency with time even though EVA is used and to provide a photovoltaic module using this solar battery cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori Watabe, Yoko Matsuo, Hiroshi Hashigami, Hiroyuki Ohtsuka
  • Patent number: 10692736
    Abstract: A method for producing a solar cell, which produces a single-crystal silicon solar cell by using a single-crystal silicon substrate, including: a high-temperature heat treatment process in which the single-crystal silicon substrate is subjected to heat treatment at 800° C. or higher and 1200° C. or lower, wherein the high-temperature heat treatment process includes a conveying step of loading the single-crystal silicon substrate into a heat treatment apparatus, a heating step of heating the single-crystal silicon substrate, a temperature keeping step of keeping the single-crystal silicon substrate at a predetermined temperature of 800° C. or higher and 1200° C. or lower, and a cooling step of cooling the single-crystal silicon substrate, and, in the high-temperature heat treatment process, the length of time during which the temperature of the single-crystal silicon substrate is 400° C. or higher and 650° C. or lower is set at 5 minutes or less throughout the conveying step and the heating step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Hashigami, Takenori Watabe, Hiroyuki Ohtsuka
  • Publication number: 20200185547
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide, at a low cost, a solar cell having high conversion efficiency. A solar cell according to the present invention is characterized by including a passivation film that protects a semiconductor substrate, a first finger electrode connected to the semiconductor substrate on a main surface of the semiconductor substrate, a first bus bar electrode that intersects the first finger electrode, and an intermediate layer provided in an intersecting position of the first finger electrode and the first bus bar electrode. The solar cell is characterized in that the first finger electrode and the first bus bar electrode are electrically connected to each other via the intermediate layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2017
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ryo MITTA, Takenori WATABE, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20200105963
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solar cell capable of enhancing photoelectric conversion efficiency is provided. The present invention is a method for manufacturing a solar cell which includes steps of forming a p-n junction on a silicon semiconductor substrate and forming an aluminum oxide film on at least one main surface of the silicon semiconductor substrate, including: a step of subjecting the silicon semiconductor substrate to heat treatment in an atmosphere with 20 g or more water vapor per cubic meter and a temperature of 60° C. or more and 100° C. or less before the step of forming the aluminum oxide film. Consequently, a method for manufacturing a solar cell capable of enhancing photoelectric conversion efficiency is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2018
    Publication date: April 2, 2020
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20200058810
    Abstract: A solar cell including a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type an emitter region, having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, on a first main surface of the semiconductor substrate an emitter electrode which is in contact with the emitter region a base region having the first conductivity type a base electrode which is in contact with the base region and an insulator film for preventing an electrical short-circuit between the emitter region and the base region, wherein the insulator film is made of a polyimide, and the insulator film has a C6H11O2 detection count number of 100 or less when the insulator film is irradiated with Bi5++ ions with an acceleration voltage of 30 kV and an ion current of 0.2 pA by a TOF-SIMS method. There can be provided a solar cell having excellent weather resistance and high photoelectric conversion characteristics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2016
    Publication date: February 20, 2020
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Shun MORIYAMA, TAKENORI WATABE, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20200052136
    Abstract: A solar cell having, on a semiconductor substrate's first main surface a first conductivity type, a base layer having first conductivity type and an emitter layer which is adjacent to base layer and has a second conductivity type which is a conductivity type opposite to first conductivity type, the solar cell includes: a base electrode which is electrically connected with base layer; and an emitter electrode which is electrically connected with emitter layer, solar cell including: dielectric films which are in contact with base and emitter layer on first main surface; first insulator films which cover the emitter electrode, are placed on the dielectric films, and are arranged to have a gap at least on base layer; and a base bus bar electrode placed at least on first insulator films, and being wherein gap distance between the first insulator films is 40 ?m or more and (W+110) ?m or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2016
    Publication date: February 13, 2020
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Shun MORIYAMA, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20190305149
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solar cell, including the steps of: forming unevenness on both of main surfaces of a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; forming an emitter layer on a first main surface of the semiconductor substrate; forming a diffusion mask on the emitter layer; removing the diffusion mask in a pattern; forming a base layer on the portion where the diffusion mask have been removed; removing the remaining diffusion mask; forming a dielectric film on the first main surface; forming a base electrode on the base layer; and forming an emitter electrode on the emitter layer. This provides a method for manufacturing a solar cell that can bring high photoelectric conversion efficiency while decreasing the number of steps.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2016
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20190252561
    Abstract: A solar battery cell including a finger electrode on a first main surface of a semiconductor substrate, the solar battery cell being including at least a surface of the finger electrode is covered with a material containing an insulating material so that the surface is not exposed, and the material containing the insulating material does not hydrolyze or does not generate a carboxylic acid when it hydrolyzes. Consequently, it is possible to provide a solar battery cell which suppresses a reduction in photoelectric conversion efficiency with time even though EVA is used and to provide a photovoltaic module using this solar battery cell.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2016
    Publication date: August 15, 2019
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU Chemical Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Yoko MATSUO, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20190221700
    Abstract: In a back contact type solar cell in which an impurity diffusion layer where second conductive type impurities are diffused is formed on a back surface, as a non-light receiving surface, of a first conductive type semiconductor substrate, and an electrode in contact with the impurity diffusion layer is provided, a surface concentration of the impurities in the impurity diffusion layer is not less than 5×1017 atms/cm3 and not more than 5×1019 atms/cm3, and a diffusion depth of the impurities in the impurity diffusion layer is not smaller than 1 ?m and not larger than 2.9 ?m from a top of the back surface. It is thereby possible to provide a high efficiency back contact type solar cell which can be manufactured by a simple method at low cost.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2016
    Publication date: July 18, 2019
    Inventors: Ryo MITTA, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Takenori WATABE, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20190181288
    Abstract: A back surface electrode type solar cell in which a p-type region having a p-conductive type, and an n-type region which has an n-conductive type and in which maximum concentration of additive impurities for providing the n-conductive type in a substrate width direction is equal to or higher than 5×1018 atoms/cm3 are disposed on a first main surface of a crystal silicon substrate, a first passivation film is disposed so as to cover the p-type region and the n-type region, and a second passivation film is disposed on a second main surface which is a surface opposite to the first main surface so as to cover the second main surface, the first passivation film and the second passivation film being formed with a compound containing oxide aluminum.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2016
    Publication date: June 13, 2019
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Takenori WATABE, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA, Ryo MITTA
  • Publication number: 20190165191
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solar cell having preparing a semiconductor substrate having a dielectric film on at least a first main surface, partially removing the dielectric film of the semiconductor substrate, and forming an electrode along a region where the dielectric film is partially removed, including measuring relative positional relationship between a position of a region where the dielectric film is partially removed and a position of the formed electrode in the semiconductor substrate after partially removing the dielectric film and forming the electrode, wherein for a newly prepared semiconductor substrate having a dielectric film on at least a first main surface, the dielectric film is partially removed after adjusting a position of a region based on the measured positional relationship. This improves the yield ratio of the solar cell by reducing positional displacement between the region where the dielectric film is partially removed and the electrode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2016
    Publication date: May 30, 2019
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Ryo MITTA, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20190157478
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a solar cell, including the steps of: forming unevenness on both of main surfaces of a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; forming a base layer on a first main surface of the semiconductor substrate; forming a diffusion mask on the base layer; removing the diffusion mask in a pattern; forming an emitter layer on the portion of the first main surface where the diffusion mask have been removed; removing the remaining diffusion mask; forming a dielectric film on the first main surface; forming a base electrode on the base layer; and forming an emitter electrode on the emitter layer. This provides a method for manufacturing a solar cell that can bring high photoelectric conversion efficiency while decreasing the number of steps.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2016
    Publication date: May 23, 2019
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Ryo MITTA, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20190131471
    Abstract: A solar cell including: a semiconductor substrate having a first conductivity type; a first conductivity type layer having a conductivity type equal to the first conductivity type and a second conductivity type layer having a second conductivity type opposite to the first conductivity type, which are located on a first main surface of the substrate; a first collecting electrode on the first conductivity type layer located on the first main surface; and a second collecting electrode on the second conductivity type layer located on the first main surface. In the solar cell, a second conductivity type layer having the second conductivity type is formed on a side surface of the semiconductor substrate and continuously from the second conductivity type layer located on the first main surface. Consequently, it is possible to provide a solar cell having excellent conversion efficiency and being capable of efficiently collecting carriers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2017
    Publication date: May 2, 2019
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Patent number: 10236397
    Abstract: A method for producing a solar cell having good photoelectric conversion characteristics with high productivity, including the steps of: forming a first electrode on a first main surface of a semiconductor substrate; applying an insulator film precursor to cover at least part of the first electrode; temporarily curing the insulator film precursor; applying a conductive paste to at least the insulator film precursor; curing the conductive paste to form a second electrode; and completely curing the insulator film precursor to form an insulator film, the method in which the step of applying the conductive paste so as to be electrically insulated from the first electrode is performed after the step of temporarily curing the insulator film precursor and at least part of the steps of curing the conductive paste to form the second electrode and completely curing the insulator film precursor to form the insulator film are concurrently performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Hashigami, Toyohiro Ueguri, Takenori Watabe, Hiroyuki Ohtsuka
  • Publication number: 20190013423
    Abstract: To Provide a back contact type solar cell with high photovoltaic-conversion efficiency which can be easily manufactured with good yield at low cost. The high photovoltaic-conversion efficiency solar cell of the present invention includes on a back surface, as a non-light receiving surface, of a first conductive type semiconductor substrate: a first conductive type diffusion layer where first conductive type impurities are diffused; a second conductive type diffusion layer where second conductive type impurities are diffused; and a high resistive layer or an intrinsic semiconductor layer formed between the first conductive type diffusion layer and the second conductive type diffusion layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2016
    Publication date: January 10, 2019
    Inventors: Ryo MITTA, Takenori WATABE, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20180342402
    Abstract: A method for producing a solar cell, which produces a single-crystal silicon solar cell by using a single-crystal silicon substrate, including: a high-temperature heat treatment process in which the single-crystal silicon substrate is subjected to heat treatment at 800° C. or higher and 1200° C. or lower, wherein the high-temperature heat treatment process includes a conveying step of loading the single-crystal silicon substrate into a heat treatment apparatus, a heating step of heating the single-crystal silicon substrate, a temperature keeping step of keeping the single-crystal silicon substrate at a predetermined temperature of 800° C. or higher and 1200° C. or lower, and a cooling step of cooling the single-crystal silicon substrate, and, in the high-temperature heat treatment process, the length of time during which the temperature of the single-crystal silicon substrate is 400° C. or higher and 650° C. or lower is set at 5 minutes or less throughout the conveying step and the heating step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2016
    Publication date: November 29, 2018
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Takenori WATABE, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA
  • Publication number: 20180337303
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a solar cell including: preparing a semiconductor silicon substrate which has an electrode, which is formed by baking an electrode precursor on at least one main surface, has a PN junction, and is less than 100° C.; and performing an annealing treatment to the semiconductor silicon substrate at 100° C. or more and 450° C. or less. Consequently, there is provided the method for manufacturing a solar cell which suppresses a degradation phenomenon that an output of the solar cell is lowered when the solar cell is left as it stands at a room temperature in the atmosphere.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2016
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Applicant: SHIN-ETSU CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takenori WATABE, Hiroshi HASHIGAMI, Hiroyuki OHTSUKA