Degradation effects of the output electrical characteristics of Si solar cells as a result of ionizing radiation under low light conditions

Abstract

This paper presents results of radiation resistance of different types of commercially available single- and poly-crystalline silicon solar cells. Sample cells were subjected to gamma radiation from gamma radiation source 60Co. Characteristic parameters of solar cells were extracted from obtained I-V curves: open circuit voltage, short circuit current, maximum power point voltage and current, efficiency, fill factor, and series resistance. Obtained results show the level of parameters' degradation with purpose of increasing solar cells applications in radiation environments.

Impact of n,γ-irradiation on organic complexes of rare earth metals

“…The open-circuit voltage (0.3 V), short current (22 μA/cm 2 ) and fill factor (15%) of the photovoltaic cell based on the irradiated sample of the ytterbium complex [Yb(NpSON) 3 ] 2 coincided with the corresponding characteristics of the cell containing the non-irradiated compound. It should be noted that the semiconductor properties of such widely used inorganic materials as Si, SiN, GaAs are changed significantly and irreversibly already when irradiated with an energy of 200 keV and an absorbed dose of 905 Gy (90.5 krad) 2 .…”

“…Unfortunately, it is impossible to exclude the existing probability of contamination of the area by nuclides due to the explosion of nuclear warheads. Currently, in devices designed to operate under InI conditions, only inorganic semiconductor materials are used, although studies have shown their relatively low radiation resistance 2–5 . There are as well two papers on the radiation resistance of organic semiconductors in which the polymer/fullerene systems are considered as promising for designing solar cells operating under radiation conditions 6,7 .…”