Solar crystalline silicon cells are classified into N-type and P-type cells according to the properties of the silicon wafer. The difference between P-type and N-type cells lies in the raw material silicon wafer and the cell manufacturing technology. P-type silicon wafers are made by doping silicon with boron, while N-type silicon wafers are made by doping silicon with phosphorus.
P-type batteries use P-type silicon wafers as raw materials, and the main manufacturing technologies include the traditional Al-BSF (aluminum back surface field) and the emerging PERC technology. N-type batteries use N-type silicon wafers as raw materials, and the main manufacturing technologies include TOPCon, HJT, PERT/PERL, IBC, etc.
P-type batteries only require diffusion of one type of impurity, resulting in lower costs, but they have a short minority carrier lifetime and lower conversion efficiency. N-type batteries have a long minority carrier lifetime and high conversion efficiency, but the challenge lies in the need to diffuse two types of impurities, leading to higher costs.
P-type PERC technology is currently the mainstream technology for crystalline silicon cells. N-type technology is still in the early stages of industrialization and is the next generation of crystalline silicon cell technology. It has the characteristics of short process, high conversion efficiency, anti-attenuation and low temperature coefficient, which is conducive to increasing photovoltaic power generation and reducing power generation costs. It has broad development prospects, but due to its high cost, N-type technology is far from reaching the stage of large-scale mass production.
