Title :
Grain boundary modeling and characterization of thin-film silicon solar cells
Author :
Sproul, A.B. ; Edmiston, S.A. ; Puzzer, T. ; Heiser, G. ; Wenham, S.R. ; Green, M.A. ; Young, T.L.
Author_Institution :
Centre for Photovoltaic Devices & Syst., New South Wales Univ., Sydney, NSW, Australia
Abstract :
An analytical model is developed to describe recombination currents arising from recombination at grain boundaries (GBs) in the depletion region of a p-n junction solar cell. Grain boundaries are modeled as having a single energy level in the energy gap, and partial occupancy of these states gives rise to a charge on the GB. The analytical model is compared to a complete numerical simulation package (DESSIS) and found to be in good agreement. Additionally, cross sectional EBIC images of a multilayer device containing vertical GBs are presented. Results derived from an analytical model are compared qualitatively to the experimental data and found to give good agreement
Keywords :
EBIC; electron-hole recombination; elemental semiconductors; energy gap; grain boundaries; p-n junctions; semiconductor materials; semiconductor thin films; silicon; solar cells; DESSIS; Si; Si solar cells; cross sectional EBIC images; depletion region; energy gap; grain boundary modeling; multilayer device; numerical simulation package; p-n junction solar cell; recombination currents; single energy level; thin-film silicon solar cells; vertical grain boundaries; Analytical models; Energy states; Grain boundaries; Nonhomogeneous media; Numerical simulation; P-n junctions; Packaging; Photovoltaic cells; Semiconductor thin films; Silicon;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 1996., Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Washington, DC
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-3166-4
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.1996.564065
