Typical thin-film photovoltaic cells incorporate a textured transparent conductive oxide to efficiently harvest solar energy. What should be the ideally desired morphology of this textured surface for best cell performance -is highly debated but remains an unsolved mystery. We present a comprehensive methodology to 1) accurately model, 2) extract macroscopically sufficient statistical finger-prints and 3) predict best desired values for these statistical finger-prints of such a randomly textured surface for the best performance of the cell.

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PVD layers are investigated under simulated operation conditions for their suitability as connector and switch contact materials. The tribological properties import for connector contact materials like e. g. wear, fretting etc. of sputtered base metal containing silver alloys (AgSn) and of electroplated standard materials (Ag, Sn) are investigated. Positive results are obtained with sputtered AgSnlayers regarding wear and fretting. Aubased PVD layers are tested for their static and dynamic contact behaviour in switching applications. Comparison is made with roller clad standard alloys Au8Ag and AuSNi. The influence of the surface topography of PVD layers on the switching behaviour is being discussed. The static and dynamic contact behaviour of PVD layers with optimized surface topography surpasses that of the standard. Production techniques for connectors and switch contact materials are demonstrated.

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