Abstract:
A solar cell fabrication method and solar cell (10) made by the method wherein a grid of point electrical connections (22) is made to a transparent first electrode layer (14) of the cell through a layer of a-Si semiconductor material (16) which is sandwiched between the first electrode layer and a second back electrode layer (18). A dielectric layer (20) electrically insulates the back electrode layer and the grid of point electrical connections. An electrically conducting network (32) is deposited on the dielectric layer and electrically interconnects the grid of point electrical connections. The resulting cell has a relatively low active area loss and a relatively low electrical power loss due to the electrical connections in the cell.