Spatially distributed model for the analysis of laser beam induced current (LBIC) measurements of thin film silicon solar modules

Vorasayan, Pongpan; Betts, Thomas R.; Gottschalg, Ralph

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2010.02.020

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…This technique is adapted from photovoltaic module testing, where the physics of the entire module is determined by the physics of assembled subdevices. 35 In the case of a single solar cell, the spatial distribution of heterogeneously responding areas can be seen as parallel-connected microdiodes, 36 which has been demonstrated for polycrystalline inorganic thin-film solar cells e.g. by Karpov et al 37…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-Term Environmental Effects and Their Influence on Spatial Homogeneity of Organic Solar Cell Functionality

Chien¹,

Zach²,

Friedel

2017

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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In this study, we focus on the induced degradation and spatial inhomogeneity of organic photovoltaic devices under different environmental conditions, uncoupled from the influence of any auxiliary hole-transport (HT) layer. During testing of the corresponding devices comprising the standard photoactive layer of poly(3-hexylthiophene) as donor, blended with phenyl-C-butyric acid methyl ester as acceptor, a comparison was made between the nonencapsulated devices upon exposure to argon in the dark, dry air in the dark, dry air with illumination, and humid air in the dark. The impact on the active layer's photophysics is discussed, along with the device physics in terms of integral solar cell performance and spatially resolved photocurrent distribution with point-to-point analysis of the diode characteristics to determine the origin of the observed integrated organic photovoltaic device behavior. The results show that even without the widely used hygroscopic HT layer, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate), humidity is still a major factor in the short-term environmental degradation of organic solar cells with this architecture, and not only oxygen or light, as is often reported. Different from previous reports where water-induced device degradation was spatially homogeneous and formation of AlO islands was only seen for oxygen permeation through pinholes in aluminum, we observed insulating islands merely after humidity exposure in the present study. Further, we demonstrated with laser beam induced current mapping and point-to-point diode analysis that the water-induced performance losses are a result of the exposed device area comprising regions with entirely unaltered high output and intact diode behavior and those with severe degradation showing detrimentally lowered output and voltage-independent charge blocking, which is essentially insulating behavior. It is suggested that this is caused by transport of water through pinholes to the organic/metal interface, where they form insulating oxide or hydroxide islands, while the organic active layer stays unharmed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-Term Environmental Effects and Their Influence on Spatial Homogeneity of Organic Solar Cell Functionality

Chien¹,

Zach²,

Friedel

2017

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…In the case of the module, when a solar cell is locally illuminated, the remaining cells get reverse biased and restrict the output photocurrent. The output LBIC signal is significantly affected by the electrical parameters (mainly shunt resistance) of other cells and could not represent the true local properties of the investigated cell [45]. Another approach of LBIC, i.e., illuminated-LBIC was used where an external bias illumination was provided over the entire module area.…”

Section: Limited-light Beam Induced Currentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-Characterization for Imaging Parasitic Resistive Losses in Thin-Film Photovoltaic Modules

Sinha

Bliss

et al. 2016

J. Imaging

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Thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules often suffer from a variety of parasitic resistive losses in transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and absorber layers that significantly affect the module electrical performance. This paper presents the holistic investigation of resistive effects due to TCO lateral sheet resistance and shunts in amorphous-silicon (a-Si) thin-film PV modules by simultaneous use of three different imaging techniques, electroluminescence (EL), lock-in thermography (LIT) and light beam induced current (LBIC), under different operating conditions. Results from individual techniques have been compared and analyzed for particular type of loss channel, and combination of these techniques has been used to obtain more detailed information for the identification and classification of these loss channels. EL and LIT techniques imaged the TCO lateral resistive effects with different spatial sensitivity across the cell width. For quantification purpose, a distributed diode modeling and simulation approach has been exploited to estimate TCO sheet resistance from EL intensity pattern and effect of cell width on module efficiency. For shunt investigation, LIT provided better localization of severe shunts, while EL and LBIC given good localization of weak shunts formed by the scratches. The impact of shunts on the photocurrent generation capability of individual cells has been assessed by li-LBIC technique. Results show that the cross-characterization by different imaging techniques provides additional information, which aids in identifying the nature and severity of loss channels with more certainty, along with their relative advantages and limitations in particular cases.

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“…Spatially resolved measurement and distributed analysis in solar cells is the investigation of solar cell properties or electrical PV parameters by taking into account their location (position) on the solar cell or module [20]. It has been done in the past and is generally used to investigate the influence of the distribution and variation of physical properties on overall performance and efficiency.…”

Section: Modelling Structure and Spatial 3 Dimensional Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Galina et al reported a 3D model which accounts for the cell's transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and back sheet contacts. Others accounted for the cell dimensions in the form of calculated resistivity [20]. Vorasayan et al reported a distributed 3 dimension model (D3DM) focussing on the idiosyncrasies of amorphous silicon technologies.…”

Section: Modelling Structure and Spatial 3 Dimensional Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of shading caused by dust on Cadmium Telluride photovoltaic modules

Qasem

Betts

Gottschalg

2011

2011 37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference

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Spatially distributed model for the analysis of laser beam induced current (LBIC) measurements of thin film silicon solar modules

Cited by 26 publications

References 6 publications

Short-Term Environmental Effects and Their Influence on Spatial Homogeneity of Organic Solar Cell Functionality

Short-Term Environmental Effects and Their Influence on Spatial Homogeneity of Organic Solar Cell Functionality

Cross-Characterization for Imaging Parasitic Resistive Losses in Thin-Film Photovoltaic Modules

Effect of shading caused by dust on Cadmium Telluride photovoltaic modules

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