Light‐induced degradation in amorphous silicon p‐i‐n solar cells prepared by photo‐CVD

The light‐induced degradation of high‐efficiency a‐Si:H solar cells (9–11%) prepared by photo‐CVD has been investigated. For these samples, the degradation has been found to vary with i‐layer thickness and substrate temperature. The influence of different p/i interface conditions on the degradation has also been examined. The cell with a buffer layer at this interface exhibited somewhat greater degradation than the cell without the buffer layer. A general computer simulation model for a‐Si:H p‐i‐n solar cells that we have devised suggests that the buffer layer affects the degradation through a change in the i‐layer recombination rate.