Patent ID: 8664034

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a solar cell comprising: a step A of forming a first semiconductor layer having a first conductivity type on a first region and a second region of a main surface of a semiconductor substrate; a step B of removing the first semiconductor layer on the second region and exposing the second region of the main surface; after completion of step B, a step C of cleaning the second region of the main surface; and a step D of depositing a second semiconductor layer having a second conductivity type on the second region of the main surface and also on the first semiconductor layer, further comprising a step of forming a recombination layer on the first semiconductor layer between the step A and the step B, wherein the second semiconductor layer is formed on the second region and also on the recombination layer in the step D, wherein the recombination layer is a semiconductor layer having the first conductivity type, and the amount of impurities of the first conductivity type contained in the semiconductor layer is larger than the amount of impurities of the first conductivity type contained in the first semiconductor layer, wherein the recombination layer is a microcrystalline semiconductor layer, and each of the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer is an amorphous semiconductor layer, wherein step C comprises a wet process and hydrogen gas process.