Patent Document ID: 9726710
Application ID: 14086387
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for manufacturing solar cells, comprising: prior to a metallization layer being applied to a first solar cell during a manufacturing of the first solar cell: illuminating the first solar cell using an illumination source having a selective illumination intensity, wherein the selective illumination intensity is configured to create photogenerated minority carriers in the first solar cell; measuring a photoconductivity of the first solar cell in response to the illumination source using an inductively coupled bridge circuit; measuring an illumination of the first solar cell resulting from the illumination source using a second solar cell; determining lifetime values of the first solar cell at different minority carrier concentrations using a hardware processor; determining a shape of a lifetime curve for the first solar cell based on the determined lifetime values using the hardware processor; and determining a fill factor of the first solar cell based on the determined shape of the lifetime curve using the hardware processor; and applying the metallization layer to the first solar cell; determining whether the application of the metallization layer to the first solar cell has worsened the fill factor of the first solar cell; and based on the determined fill factor of the first solar cell and the determining of whether the application of the metallization layer to the first solar cell has worsened the fill factor of the first solar cell, altering intrinsic layer properties and deposition processes in a solar cell manufacturing process to obtain a solar cell with high fill factor, wherein the lifetime curve is determined using the following equation: 
 τ= MCD*W/G where: τ is a lifetime value of the first solar cell; MCD is a minority carrier density of the first solar cell; W is a thickness of the first solar cell; and G is an optical generation rate of the first solar cell.