Title :
Stress testing of CdTe solar cells
Author :
Meyers, P.V. ; Phillips, J.E.
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Energy Conversion, Delaware Univ., Newark, DE, USA
Abstract :
CdTe/CdS solar cells have been known to exhibit various combinations of reversible and irreversible degradation of conversion efficiency after being subjected to temperature, voltage and illumination at levels which equal or surpass those expected in field conditions. This paper describes a series of measurements designed to quantify these phenomena. The QE and light and dark J-V characteristics of a set of CdTe devices were measured, then devices were subjected to various combinations of stresses within the parameter space of 0-70 mW/cm2 illumination, -0.5 V to +5 mA/cm2 electrical bias, and temperatures from 72° to 112°C. The device characteristics were measured and changes are interpreted in the context of an equivalent circuit which includes the effects of both the main junction diode, series resistor and a rectifying back contact
Keywords :
II-VI semiconductors; cadmium compounds; electric current measurement; equivalent circuits; semiconductor device testing; solar cells; voltage measurement; 72 to 112 C; CdTe-CdS; CdTe/CdS solar cells; conversion efficiency degradation; dark J-V characteristics; electrical bias; equivalent circuit; irreversible degradation; light J-V characteristics; main junction diode; parameter space; rectifying back contact; reversible degradation; series resistor; stress testing; Degradation; Diodes; Electric variables measurement; Equivalent circuits; Lighting; Photovoltaic cells; Stress measurement; Temperature; Testing; Voltage;
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.1996.564246
