Silicon heterojunction solar cells consist of crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers coated with doped/intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) bilayers for passivating-contact formation. Here, we unambiguously demonstrate that carrier injection either due to light soaking or (dark) forward-voltage bias increases the open circuit voltage and fill factor of finished cells, leading to a conversion efficiency gain of up to 0.3% absolute. This phenomenon contrasts markedly with the light-induced degradation known for thin-film a-Si:H solar cells. We associate our performance gain with an increase in surface passivation, which we find is specific to doped a-Si:H/c-Si structures. Our experiments suggest that this improvement originates from a reduced density of recombination-active interface states. To understand the time dependence of the observed phenomena, a kinetic model is presented.
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10 October 2016
Research Article|
October 11 2016
Light-induced performance increase of silicon heterojunction solar cells
Eiji Kobayashi;
Eiji Kobayashi
a)
1École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL),
Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory
, Rue de la Maladière 71b, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
2
Choshu Industry Co., Ltd.
, 3740, Shin-yamanoi, Sanyo Onoda, Yamaguchi 757-8511, Japan
3Department of Materials Science and Engineering,
Yamaguchi University
, 2-16-1 Tokiwadai, Ube, Yamaguchi 755-8611, Japan
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Stefaan De Wolf
;
Stefaan De Wolf
4
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
, KAUST Solar Center (KSC), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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Jacques Levrat;
Jacques Levrat
5
CSEM PV-Center
, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Gabriel Christmann;
Gabriel Christmann
5
CSEM PV-Center
, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Antoine Descoeudres;
Antoine Descoeudres
5
CSEM PV-Center
, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Sylvain Nicolay;
Sylvain Nicolay
5
CSEM PV-Center
, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Matthieu Despeisse;
Matthieu Despeisse
5
CSEM PV-Center
, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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Yoshimi Watabe;
Yoshimi Watabe
2
Choshu Industry Co., Ltd.
, 3740, Shin-yamanoi, Sanyo Onoda, Yamaguchi 757-8511, Japan
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Christophe Ballif
Christophe Ballif
1École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL),
Institute of Microengineering (IMT), Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory
, Rue de la Maladière 71b, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
5
CSEM PV-Center
, Jaquet-Droz 1, CH-2002 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
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a)
E-mail: kobayashi.eiji@choshu.co.jp
Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 153503 (2016)
Article history
Received:
September 09 2016
Accepted:
October 01 2016
Citation
Eiji Kobayashi, Stefaan De Wolf, Jacques Levrat, Gabriel Christmann, Antoine Descoeudres, Sylvain Nicolay, Matthieu Despeisse, Yoshimi Watabe, Christophe Ballif; Light-induced performance increase of silicon heterojunction solar cells. Appl. Phys. Lett. 10 October 2016; 109 (15): 153503. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4964835
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