Electrothermal simulation of a defect in a solar cell

Breitenstein, O.; Rakotoniaina, J.P.

doi:10.1063/1.1866474

Cited by 46 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Note that the ideality factors tend to peak between 0.3 and 0.5 V forward bias, regardless of the magnitude of τ, r 12 , or the energy levels (not all variations are shown in Fig. 3).…”

Section: Recombination Currentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The electron is thermally excited into a neighboring defect level that is situated higher in the energy gap. Varied are the lifetime parameters  and the coupling rate between the neighbors, r 12 .…”

Section: Recombination Currentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gettering and Defect Engineering in Semiconductor Technology XIII consumption of heat (including Peltier effects), LIT has become a very successful technique for investigating local physical processes in solar cells [11,12].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of Defects on Solar Cell Characteristics

Breitenstein

Bauer

Altermatt

et al. 2009

SSP

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Abstract. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of most industrial silicon solar cells deviate rather strongly from the exponential behavior expected from textbook knowledge. Thus, the recombination current may be orders of magnitude larger than expected for the given material quality and often shows an ideality factor larger than 2 in a wide bias-range, which cannot be explained by classical theory either. Sometimes, the cells contain ohmic shunts although the cell's edges have been perfectly insolated. Even in the absence of such shunts, the characteristics are linear or super-linear under reverse bias, while a saturation would be classically expected. Especially in multicrystalline cells the breakdown does not tend to occur at -50 V reverse bias, as expected, but already at about -15 V or even below. These deviations are typically caused by extended defects in the cells. This paper reviews the present knowledge of the origin of such nonideal I-V characteristics of silicon solar cells and introduces new results on recombination involving coupled defect levels.

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“…Note that the ideality factors tend to peak between 0.3 and 0.5 V forward bias, regardless of the magnitude of τ, r 12 , or the energy levels (not all variations are shown in Fig. 3).…”

Section: Recombination Currentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recombination Currentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of Defects on Solar Cell Characteristics

Breitenstein

Bauer

Altermatt

et al. 2009

SSP

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“…Due to this current flow the temperature of the electron gas decreases, which instantly leads to a decrease of the crystal temperature. This is the physical reason for the Peltier cooling effect, which occurs at the p−n junction under forward bias [27].…”

Section: Theory Vs Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the current-voltage characteristics of industrial crystalline silicon solar cells by considering inhomogeneous current distributions

Breitenstein

2013

Opto-Electronics Review

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Solar cells made from multi- or mono-crystalline silicon wafers are the base of today’s photovoltaics industry. These devices are essentially large-area semiconductor p-n junctions. Technically, solar cells have a relatively simple structure, and the theory of p-n junctions was established already decades ago. The generally accepted model for describing them is the so-called two-diode model. However, the current-voltage characteristics of industrial solar cells, particularly of that made from multi-crystalline silicon material, show significant deviations from established diode theory. These deviations regard the forward and the reverse dark characteristics as well as the relation between the illuminated characteristics to the dark ones. In the recent years it has been found that the characteristics of industrial solar cells can only be understood by taking into account local inhomogeneities of the dark current flow. Such inhomogeneities can be investigated by applying lock-in thermography techniques. Based on these and other investigations, meanwhile the basic properties of industrial silicon solar cells are well understood. This contribution reviews the most important experimental results leading to the present state of physical understanding of the dark and illuminated characteristics of multi-crystalline industrial solar cells. This analysis should be helpful for the continuing process of optimizing such cells for further increasing their energy conversion efficiency.

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“…In addition, proper boundary conditions should be taken into consideration to address the energy losses due to surface recombination and Peltier effects in the contacts. 22,23 …”

Section: Model and Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Optoelectronic insights into the photovoltaic losses from photocurrent, voltage, and energy perspectives

Shang

et al. 2017

AIP Advances

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Photocurrent and voltage losses are the fundamental limitations for improving the efficiency of photovoltaic devices. It is indeed that a comprehensive and quantitative differentiation of the performance degradation in solar cells will promote the understanding of photovoltaic physics as well as provide a useful guidance to design highly-efficient and cost-effective solar cells. Based on optoelectronic simulation that addresses electromagnetic and carrier-transport responses in a coupled finite-element method, we report a detailed quantitative analysis of photocurrent and voltage losses in solar cells. We not only concentrate on the wavelength-dependent photocurrent loss, but also quantify the variations of photocurrent and operating voltage under different forward electrical biases. Further, the device output power and power losses due to carrier recombination, thermalization, Joule heat, and Peltier heat are studied through the optoelectronic simulation. The deep insight into the gains and losses of the photocurrent, voltage, and energy will contribute to the accurate clarifications of the performance degradation of photovoltaic devices, enabling a better control of the photovoltaic behaviors for high performance.

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Electrothermal simulation of a defect in a solar cell

Cited by 46 publications

References 5 publications

Influence of Defects on Solar Cell Characteristics

Influence of Defects on Solar Cell Characteristics

Understanding the current-voltage characteristics of industrial crystalline silicon solar cells by considering inhomogeneous current distributions

Optoelectronic insights into the photovoltaic losses from photocurrent, voltage, and energy perspectives

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