Dresden 2006 – scientific programme

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HL: Halbleiterphysik

HL 32: Photovoltaic

HL 32.10: Talk

Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 17:00–17:15, BEY 118

Shunt Imaging and Characterization in Industrial Silicon Solar Cells using Polymer-dispersed Crystal Foils — •Stelio Correia and Jan Lossen — ErSol Solar Energy AG, Wilhelm-Wolff-Str. 23, 99099 Erfurt

Shunts reduce the efficiency of solar cells, especially under low light conditions. Besides that, shunts are responsible for the hot spot phenomena in modules under shading conditions that can result in the destruction of the device. The shunt conductance represents recombination effects and parasitic current paths parallel to the diode current. It affects the FF and Voc parameters. The identification of an increased shunt conductance, especially in large area surface state-of-the-art industrial solar cells, requires a spatial resolved analysis. Local power dissipation can be imaged with thermographic techniques. Polymer dispersed crystal foils are a simple tool to visualise temperature, when a high sensitivity is not relevant. With this method, shunts are detected by increased power dissipation under an external bias. In this work a cheap and easy-to-use system was built and used as a quality assessment and improvement tool for shunt analysis in industrial solar cells. Different types of shunts where identified. After a detailed characterization their causes could be overcome.