Photovoltaic electricity generation is a rapidly growing industry, and a key pillar of a decarbonised energy system. In modern solar cells, laser technology is used to form localised structures such as a selective emitter through doping or to locally ablate dielectric layers for contact definition. A critical factor is the ability to passivate the laser-induced defects to prevent premature charge carrier recombination reducing the cell efficiency. Hydrogenation is such a passivation technique. The exact mechanisms have until recently been poorly understood, so this timely reference covers the recent breakthroughs in the understanding of hydrogen passivation.

• Chapter 1: Industrial silicon solar cells
• Chapter 2: Hydrogen passivation mechanisms
• Chapter 3: Hydrogen passivation of silicon surfaces
• Chapter 4: Hydrogen passivation of bulk defects
• Chapter 5: The boron-oxygen defect system
• Chapter 6: Negative impacts of hydrogen in silicon
• Chapter 7: Laser doping for rapid diffusion in silicon
• Chapter 8: Laser-doped selective emitter formation and the passivation of laser-induced defects
• Chapter 9: Applications of laser doping
• Chapter 10: Conclusion and future outlook