Patent ID: 8525018

Claim:
A solar cell, comprising: a crystalline semiconductor substrate of a first conductive type having a flat rear surface; a passivation layer positioned directly on the flat rear surface of the substrate; an emitter region of a second conductive type opposite the first conductive type that is positioned directly on the passivation layer; a first field region of the first conductive type that is positioned directly on the passivation layer to be separated from the emitter region; an insulating region including a first portion directly positioned on the flat rear surface of the substrate and a second portion directly positioned on at least one of the emitter region and the first field region, and the insulating region being formed of a non-conductive material; a first electrode positioned on the emitter region and electrically connected to the emitter region; and a second electrode positioned on the first field region and electrically connected to the first field region, wherein the passivation layer has a thickness of 1 nm to 10 nm and a hole or electron is moved through the passivation layer, the passivation layer is formed of at least one of silicon oxide (SiOx) and silicon nitride (SiNx), and the passivation layer includes a first portion positioned between the substrate and the first field region and a second portion positioned between the substrate and the emitter region, the first portion and the second portion of the passivation layer are spatially separated from each other to expose the flat rear surface of the substrate, the first field region directly contacts the first portion of the passivation layer, the emitter region directly contacts the second portion of the passivation layer, and the first portion of the insulating region directly contacts the flat rear surface of the substrate exposed between the first portion and the second portion of the passivation layer.