Model Experiment on the Production of Silicon Droplet

Abstract

Cold model experiments were carried out to effectively produce spherical solar cells made of single crystal silicon. Water was used as the working fluid. A single-hole nozzle was chosen to generate water droplets in the dripping mode. The wettability of the nozzle was changed by coating repellent on it. The diameter of a water droplet thus generated depended strongly on the wettability. The flow field in a droplet was visualized with a CCD camera and the velocity vectors were determined with particle image velocimetry. The flow pattern in the droplet was correlated based on the Weber number similitude. A Weber number range suitable for producing single crystal silicon of high quality was found.