Effects of Electron Irradiation and Light Injection on the Performance of Silicon Solar Cells

The degradation of boron and gallium-doped n/p silicon solar cells subjected to electron irradiation and light injection, has been studied by correlating three complementary methods of characterization. These include measurements of current-voltage, I-V characteristics, minority carrier lifetime by transient short-circuit photocurrent and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The correlation between the degradation of photovoltïc performance parameters and the occurrence of defect centers in the silicon lattice allows one to identify those centers which act as effective recombination centers and those responsible for the "photon effect" in oxygen-lean, boron-doped, silicon solar cells.