Abstract: The present invention provides a method of manufacturing a crystalline silicon solar cell, comprising: —providing a crystalline silicon substrate having a front side and a back side; —forming a thin silicon oxide film on at least one of the front and the back side by soaking the crystalline silicon substrate in a chemical solution; —forming a dielectric coating film on the thin silicon oxide film on at least one of the front and the back side. The thin silicon oxide film may be formed with a thickness of 0.5-10 nm. By forming a oxide layer using a chemical solution, it is possible to form a thin oxide film for surface passivation wherein the relatively low temperature avoids deterioration of the semiconductor layers.

Abstract: The invention provides solar cells and methods of manufacturing solar cells having a Hetero-junction with Intrinsic Thin-layer (HIT) structure using an n-type multicrystalline silicon substrate. An n-type multicrystalline silicon substrate is subjected to a phosphorus diffusion step using a relatively high temperature. The front side diffusion layer is then removed. As a next step, a p-type silicon thin film is deposited at the front side of the substrate. This sequence avoids heating the p-type silicon thin film above its deposition temperature, and maintains the quality of the p-type silicon thin film.