Patent ID: 8247254

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a solar cell, the method comprising: providing a support substrate, the support substrate including a support region; providing a photovoltaic material having a surface portion to be transferred to the support region of the support substrate; bonding the photovoltaic material surface portion to the support region of the support substrate; exfoliating and transferring the photovoltaic material surface portion to the support region of the support substrate, the transferred photovoltaic material having a first thickness including a conducting layer positioned within the first thickness, the first thickness being less than 20 microns; forming an emitter region on the photovoltaic material by at least a diffusion process, the emitter region being characterized by a first impurity type; forming a mask overlaying the emitter region, the mask exposing at least a first contact region; forming the first contact region on the transferred photovoltaic material by doping the first contact region with a second impurity type, the second impurity type and the first impurity type being characterized by opposite polarities, the first contact region being electrically coupled to the conducting layer; removing the mask; forming a passivation overlaying the first contact region and the transferred photovoltaic material; forming an anti-reflection coating overlaying the passivation; forming a pattern using the anti-reflection region for a first opening and a second opening, the first opening being positioned within a vicinity of the first contact region and exposing the first contact region, the second opening being positioned outside the first contact region and exposing the emitter region, the first opening and the second opening facing a substantially similar direction; and sputtering metal material to form a first metal contact and a second metal contact, the first metal contact being electrically coupled to the first contact region, the second metal contact being electrically coupled to the emitter region.