DocumentCode :
3517442
Title :
Analysis of solar cell quality using voltage metrics
Author :
Toberer, Eric S. ; Tamboli, Adele C. ; Steiner, Myles ; Kurtz, Sarah
Author_Institution :
Colorado Sch. of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
fYear :
2012
fDate :
3-8 June 2012
Abstract :
The highest efficiency solar cells provide both excellent voltage and current. Of these, the open-circuit voltage (Voc) is more frequently viewed as an indicator of the material quality. However, since the Voc also depends on the band gap of the material, the difference between the band gap and the Voc is a better metric for comparing material quality of unlike materials. To take this one step further, since Voc also depends on the shape of the absorption edge, we propose to use the ultimate metric: the difference between the measured Voc and the Voc calculated from the external quantum efficiency using a detailed balance approach. This metric is less sensitive to changes in cell design and definition of band gap. The paper defines how to implement this metric and demonstrates how it can be useful in tracking improvements in Voc, especially as Voc approaches its theoretical maximum.
Keywords :
energy gap; solar cells; band gap; external quantum efficiency; material quality; open-circuit voltage; solar cell quality analysis; voltage metrics; Absorption; Gallium arsenide; Measurement; Photoconductivity; Photonic band gap; Photovoltaic cells; detailed balance; performance; photovoltaic cells; recombination; voltage metric;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2012 38th IEEE
Conference_Location :
Austin, TX
ISSN :
0160-8371
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-0064-3
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2012.6317845
Filename :
6317845
Link To Document :
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