This work studies the potential of n-type silicon purified via the metallurgical route for the fabrication of low cost photovoltaic cells. The high level of doping species leads to low resistivity values, as well as reduced carriers' lifetime. The fabrication of photovoltaic cells led to conversion efficiencies varying from 13.7% to 15.0% on 148.6 cm². With an improved fabrication process, efficiencies of 16.0% could be obtained. The resistivity has been identified as the limiting factor on the cells' efficiency. Gallium co-doping has been proposed in order to increase the resistivity range. The fabricated photovoltaic cells show an excellent stability under illumination with weak temperature coefficients of the open circuit voltage. This PhD work led to the knowledge of the potential of n-type silicon purified via the metallurgical route, and to define the charge specifications required to the fabrication of efficient photovoltaic cells.
