Temperature influence on performance degradation of hydrogenated amorphous silicon solar cells irradiated with protons

Abstract

This paper reports temperature influence on radiation degradation of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a‐Si : H) solar cells. Degradation behaviors of a‐Si : H solar cells irradiated with protons at 331 K are compared with that at 298 K (room temperature). Variations with time in the post‐irradiation electrical properties are also investigated. It is found that the radiation degradation of the electrical properties at 331 K is significantly smaller than that at room temperature. Also, all the electrical properties (short‐circuit current, open‐circuit voltage, output maximum, and fill factor) recover with time after irradiation even at room temperature. The characteristic time of thermal annealing of short‐circuit current is larger as the temperature is higher. These results indicate that temperature during irradiation and elapsed time from irradiation to measurement is an important parameter for radiation degradation of a‐Si : H solar cells. Therefore, these parameters should be controlled in conducting the ground radiation tests. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Energy loss process analysis for radiation degradation and immediate recovery of amorphous silicon alloy solar cells

“…This result means that the degradation recovery is more rapid as the temperature is increased. When comparing to the previous studies, (1.3-1.8) × 10 4 s at 298 K were reported for a-Si TJ cells irradiated with 40-200 keV protons, 16) 1.6 × 10 4 s at 330 K for single-junction (SJ) a-Si solar cell irradiated with 100 keV protons, 10) and (1.2-1.6) × 10 4 s at 299 K for SJ a-Si and a-SiGe alloy solar cells irradiated with 350 keV protons. 23) It has also been reported that the characteristic time increased with Ge concentration.…”

“…We have recently investigated radiation degradation of a-Si solar cells and have clarified that irradiation temperature, irradiation beam flux, and the elapsed time between irradiation and measurement should be carefully controlled in conducting radiation ground tests. 9,10) Therefore, in-situ measurement techniques are necessary to investigate the radiation degradation and annealing effects after irradiation. The ion irradiation facility at Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has a unique feature that allows for simultaneous irradiation and illuminated current-voltage (I-V ) measurement to be performed in-situ while carefully controlling temperature.…”

Radiation resistance of super-straight type amorphous silicon germanium alloy solar cells

“…In this paper, we report the proton irradiation effects on a-SiGe SJ solar cells and compare the degradation behaviors. We also report the room temperature recovery from the radiation degradation which has been often observed in a-Si solar cells [8].…”

“…Thus, the recovery of Isc immediately after irradiation is thought to be due to the increase in carrier lifetime and drift length based on annihilation of radiation defects. Assuming the variation of Isc is proportional to the variation of defect density in active layer, the following equation is obtained [8]:…”

Nanomirror-Embedded Back Reflector Layer (BRL) for Advanced Light Management in Thin Silicon Solar Cells

“…However, the commercially available stabilized efficiency and reliability of a-Si:H solar cells are greater than many of the third generation solar cells as reported so far. However, the main drawback of a-Si:H solar cells is light-induced degradation (LID), which can be minimized by controlling the thickness of the intrinsic (i) layer. − Normally, the LID decreases with decreasing the thickness of the i-layer, but the thickness of the i-layer cannot be lowered abruptly to minimize the LID as there are many other factors associated with this layer like absorption of light, etc. Among the three main layers of a-Si:H solar cell, the thickness of the i-layer controls the short-circuit current ( I sc ) and the thickness of the p- and n-layers along with their doping parameters determine the open circuit voltage ( V oc ) and short-circuit current ( I sc ).…”