Damp-heat induced degradation of transparent conducting oxides for thin-film solar cells

Pern, F. J.; Noufi, R.; Li, X.; DeHart, Clay; To, Bobby

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2008.4922491

Cited by 34 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Figure 5 shows the transmittance of an AZO film subjected to 79 o C and 97% RH for 165 h. As observed previously [4], the transmittance increased slightly after environmental aging. The amount of increase in transmittance after aging was dependent on the wavelength and ranged from 0 to 3.5% suggesting optical properties for the AZO used in this study are not significantly affected by high humidity and temperature.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

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Impacts of Humidity and Temperature on the Performance of Transparent Conducting Zinc Oxide

Yaklin

Schneider

Norman

et al. 2010

2010 35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

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The impact of humidity and temperature on a zinc oxide based transparent conducting oxide (TCO) was assessed under accelerated aging conditions. An in situ electroanalytical method was used to monitor the electrical properties for a conducting zinc oxide under controlled atmospheric (humidity, temperature and irradiation) conditions.A review of thin film photovoltaic (PV) literature has shown one major failure mode of cells/modules is associated with the ingress of water into modules in the field. Water contamination has been shown to degrade the performance of the TCO in addition to corroding interconnects and other conductive metals/materials associated with the module. Water ingress is particularly problematic in flexible thin film PV modules since traditional encapsulates such as poly(ethyl vinyl acetate) (EVA) have high water vapor transmission rates. The accelerated aging studies of the zinc oxide based TCOs will allow acceleration factors and kinetic parameters to be determined for reliability purposes.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 72%

“…However the conductivity of AZO is known to degrade rapidly upon exposure to water at higher temperatures. [3][4][5][6] Research is continuing to improve the stability of AZO through different deposition techniques and conditions. [7][8][9][10][11][12] However, most degradation and performance studies of AZO …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Humidity and Temperature on the Performance of Transparent Conducting Zinc Oxide

Yaklin

Schneider

Norman

et al. 2010

2010 35th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

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“…To achieve this end, reliable and stable materials and device structures combined with an appropriated encapsulation design are needed [2]. Despite every layer of these cells plays an important role to this purpose, the performance of the transparent front contact is critical for this objective as it is the most exposed material in the stack.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of the optical, electrical and corrosion resistance properties of AZO layers deposited by DC pulsed magnetron sputtering

G-Berasategui

Zubizarreta

Bayón

et al. 2015

Surface and Coatings Technology

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“…In recognizing the instability issues imparted by the main CIGS components, Wennerberg et al attempted to improve the performance and stability by design modifications [13]. Previously we have demonstrated the instability of Mo back electrode and intrinsic and Al-doped ZnO upon DH exposures [14][15][16]. To eliminate the ambiguity of uncertain contributions from various degrading factors encountered in testing complete CIGS cells or mini-modules, we chose in this work to only investigate only the humidity susceptibility of the absorber by subjecting the CIGS samples to ambient environment over a prolonged period of several months and to DH condition over a very brief period of hours or less.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study on the humidity susceptibility of thin-film CIGS absorber

Pern

Egaas

et al. 2009

2009 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)

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The susceptibility of a thermally co-evaporated CuInGaSe 2 (CIGS) thin-film absorber to humidity and its consequence on composition, morphology, electrical and electronic properties, and device efficiency was investigated. CIGS films on Mo-coated soda lime glass were degraded either in the ambient at ~21 o C and ~21% relative humidity (RH) for a period of several months or in damp heat (DH) at 85 o C and 85% RH briefly for 15-30 min; then the films were processed simultaneously into devices in a batch that included an unexposed control. In addition to severe delamination on some samples of the absorber films, prolonged ambient exposure resulted in numerous "spot" formations that lost CIGS with scale-like disintegration rippling around the spots and showed a significant presence of Na. Exposure in DH for 5 h was able to reproduce the spot formations on the CIGS films. A significant to large decrease of cell efficiency was observed from 14%-16% for the unexposed control to 8%-11% for the CIGS absorber exposed in DH for 15 and 30 min and 1%-4%% for the ambient-degraded CIGS with high series resistance and very low shunt resistance.

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Damp-heat induced degradation of transparent conducting oxides for thin-film solar cells

Cited by 34 publications

References 4 publications

Impacts of Humidity and Temperature on the Performance of Transparent Conducting Zinc Oxide

Impacts of Humidity and Temperature on the Performance of Transparent Conducting Zinc Oxide

Study of the optical, electrical and corrosion resistance properties of AZO layers deposited by DC pulsed magnetron sputtering

A study on the humidity susceptibility of thin-film CIGS absorber

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