Protection of Si-SiO&lt;inf&gt;2&lt;/inf&gt; interfaces from damp heat by overlying SiN&lt;inf&gt;x&lt;/inf&gt; and Si&lt;inf&gt;3&lt;/inf&gt;N&lt;inf&gt;4&lt;/inf&gt; coatings

Dai, Xianzhe; McIntosh, Keith R.

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2010.5616776

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The samples with and without a UV filter, respectively, do show a very similar behavior regardless of the set humidity of the climate chamber. This indicates that humidity as a possible factor causing SRD can be ruled out which is in accordance with results indicating that SiN x :H protects the surface passivation against humidity [37], [38]. With this result, it is unlikely that humidity influences LeTID since it is a BRD phenomenon, although further investigations might be necessary to confirm this assumption.…”

Section: F Influence Of Humidity On Srdsupporting

confidence: 88%

Influencing Light and Elevated Temperature Induced Degradation and Surface-Related Degradation Kinetics in Float-Zone Silicon by Varying the Initial Sample State

Hammann

Engelhardt

Sperber

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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Light and elevated temperature induced degradation (LeTID) kinetics in float-zone silicon are investigated by varying the initial sample state, composed of different base material, base doping, SiN x :H films, and subsequent firing, and/or annealing steps. The approach of deliberately changing the initial sample state is shown to allow for specific studies of influences of LeTID kinetics. Bulk-and surface-related degradations are examined separately and the influence on the kinetics of bulk-and surface-related degradation is illustrated by a four-state and three-state model, respectively. In case of bulk-related degradation, an increase in defect density because of the firing step is shown, whereas the annealing step has an inverse effect. Both temperature stepsindividually and combined-influence the transition rates of bulkrelated degradation and regeneration by presumably changing the distribution of a defect precursor. For surface-related degradation, the firing step reduces the transition rate from the initial to the degraded state. In addition, the influence of a comparably humid atmosphere and the absence of UV light are found to be negligible. Index Terms-Bulk-related degradation (BRD), crystalline silicon, defect density, float zone (FZ), light and elevated temperature induced degradation (LeTID), surface-related degradation (SRD). I. INTRODUCTION L IGHT and elevated temperature induced degradation (LeTID) is a degradation phenomenon first found especially in mc-Si in 2012 [1]. Recently, a similar or the same phenomenon was discovered in Cz-Si [2], [3] and float-zone (FZ) Si [4], [5]. Compared with other degradation effects like boron-oxygen-related (BO) degradation [6], higher treatment temperatures >50°C are needed to investigate the effect on experimentally viable time scales [1], [7]. Besides LeTID, which is a bulk-related degradation (BRD), a second degradation phenomenon is visible and can be identified as a This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy under Contracts 0324226A and 0324001.

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Section: F Influence Of Humidity On Srdsupporting

confidence: 88%

Influencing Light and Elevated Temperature Induced Degradation and Surface-Related Degradation Kinetics in Float-Zone Silicon by Varying the Initial Sample State

Hammann

Engelhardt

Sperber

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Photovoltaics

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“…Amorphous silicon nitride (SiNx) prepared using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) is an indispensable element in virtually every commercial solar cell [1,2]. The reason for its importance is that the film perfonns 978-1-4799-4398-2/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE three crucial functions: (i) it comprises the antireflection coating [1]; (ii) it provides surface and bulk passivation [3][4][5]; and (iii) it fonns a chemical barrier to protect underlying interfaces from the degrading effects of moisture, humidity [6,7] and sodium ions [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the NH<inf>3</inf>:SiH<inf>4</inf> ratio and surface morphology on the surface passivation of phosphorus-diffused C-Si by PECVD SiN<inf>x</inf>

Wan

Yan

Cuevas

et al. 2014

2014 IEEE 40th Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC)

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We investigate the surface passivation of phosphorus (n +) diffused crystalline silicon that is either planar or textured and passivated with amorphous silicon nitride (SiN,).A low and relatively constant saturation current density Jo is attained on the n+-diffused planar surfaces over a wide range of refractive index (n = 1.9-2.9 at 632 nm), and a wide range of sheet resistance (39-320 0/0). The results demonstrate that the trade-off between the optical transmission and surface recombination at n+-diffusion can be circumvented. That is, with careful optimization of SiN, properties, the optical advantages of SiN, can be enjoyed without penalty in recombination. In specific, on a light diffusion with sheet resistance of 700 0/0, a record-low Jo of 4 fA/cm 2 is obtained using a nearly stoichiometric SiN, with negligible absorption at short wavelengths. Moreover, it is shown that for lightly diffused surfaces, any additional recombination that occurs at textured surfaces relates strongly to the NH3:SiH4 ratio during the SiN, deposition, and consequently correlates inversely with n. In other words, an increase in the NH3:SiH4 ratio leads to an increase in recombination on planar wafers, and an even larger increase in recombination on textured wafers. By contrast, at the heavily-diffused surface, recombination at textured and planar wafers is approximately the same, irrespective of the NH3:SiH4 ratio. In summary, the results in this work indicate that the additional recombination invoked by the textured surfaces is greater as (i) the NH3:SiH4 ratio increases, which also increases n, and (U) the phosphorus diffusion is lighter.

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Damp‐heat induced degradation in photovoltaic modules manufactured with passivated emitter and rear contact solar cells

Kyranaki

Smith

Yendall

et al. 2022

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Corrosion is one of the main PV module failure mechanisms, as it can cause severe electrical performance degradation in PV modules exposed to hot and humid environments. Moisture penetrating a photovoltaic (PV) module may react with the metallic components causing corrosion. In addition, acetic acid which is produced by hydrolysis of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), the most common encapsulant, may further degrade metallic components. Corrosion is one of the main PV module failure mechanisms, as it can cause severe electrical performance degradation in PV modules exposed to hot and humid environments. The specific chemical reactions involved in the corrosion mechanisms for the different components are well understood. However, which of these causes the most serious degradation in the field, and therefore, most severe power loss is unknown. Moreover, the severity of corrosion in the absence of acetic acid is not yet well researched. This work distinguished between the front and rear side corrosion mechanisms and identified the different electrical signatures observed due to them. The experiment included damp-heat (DH) conditioning of single-cell mini-modules, containing passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) solar cells, laminated with a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) based backsheet. Furthermore, half-encapsulated PERC PV cells were tested, with either the front or the rear side exposed. Electrical and material characterisation were conducted for the investigation of the sample degradation, and the performance decrease, related to the degradation of the rear surface passivation, was examined.

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Protection of Si-SiO<inf>2</inf> interfaces from damp heat by overlying SiN<inf>x</inf> and Si<inf>3</inf>N<inf>4</inf> coatings

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

Influencing Light and Elevated Temperature Induced Degradation and Surface-Related Degradation Kinetics in Float-Zone Silicon by Varying the Initial Sample State

Influencing Light and Elevated Temperature Induced Degradation and Surface-Related Degradation Kinetics in Float-Zone Silicon by Varying the Initial Sample State

Influence of the NH<inf>3</inf>:SiH<inf>4</inf> ratio and surface morphology on the surface passivation of phosphorus-diffused C-Si by PECVD SiN<inf>x</inf>

Damp‐heat induced degradation in photovoltaic modules manufactured with passivated emitter and rear contact solar cells

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