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Light-Soaking Effects on the Open-Circuit Voltage of a-Si:H Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Jianjun Liang
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1130 USA
E. A. Schiff
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-1130 USA
S. Guha
Affiliation:
United Solar Ovonic Corp., Troy, MI 48084 USA
B. Yan
Affiliation:
United Solar Ovonic Corp., Troy, MI 48084 USA
J. Yang
Affiliation:
United Solar Ovonic Corp., Troy, MI 48084 USA
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Abstract

We present measurements on the decline of the open-circuit voltage VOC in a-Si:H solar cells during extended illumination (light-soaking) at 295 K. We used a near-infrared laser that was nearly uniformly absorbed in the intrinsic layer of the cell. At the highest photogeneration rate (about 2x1021 cm-3), a noticeable decline (0.01 V) occurred within about 10 minutes; VOC stabilized at 0.04 V below its initial value after about 200 hours. We found that both the kinetics and the magnitudes of VOC are reasonably consistent with the predictions of a calculation combining a bandtail+defect picture for recombination and a hydrogen-collision model for defect generation. The version of the hydrogen-collision model that we used assumes that only bandtail recombination drives the hydrogen collision processes. Within this picture, the crossover between bandtail and defect recombination occurs on the same timescale as the “light-induced annealing” process that accounts for stabilization of the optoelectronic properties for long lightsoaking times.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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