Patent ID: 7979969

Claim:
A method of detecting and passivating at least one defect in a solar cell, comprising: providing the solar cell, the solar cell including a backside and a front light receiving side disposed over the backside, wherein the backside includes a substrate, and the front light receiving side includes a photovoltaic layer disposed over the substrate and a conductive grid with a plurality of conductive grid sections disposed over the photovoltaic layer, the conductive grid for collecting a current produced by the solar cell; detecting the at least one defect in the solar cell; determining an affected conductive grid section from the plurality of conductive grid sections associated with the at least one defect, wherein an undesired current leaks to the at least one defect from the affected conductive grid section of the conductive grid; and mechanically cutting out a segment of the solar cell including a first portion the affected conductive grid section and underlying portions of the photovoltaic layer and the substrate to electrically isolate the affected grid section from the conductive grid, wherein the step of mechanically cutting out a segment of the solar cell leaves a cavity extending between and including the front light receiving side and backside of the solar cell including the substrate.