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Effects of Grain Boundaries in Amorphous/Multicrystalline Silicon Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

M. Farrokh Baroughi  and
S. Sivoththaman
M. Farrokh Baroughi
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200. University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
S. Sivoththaman
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200. University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
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Abstract

Spectral response and dark current-voltage characteristics of heterojunctions are used to investigate grain boundary degradation in photovoltaic properties of a-Si/mc-Si heterojunction solar cells. Measured spectral response inside the grain and on the grain boundary shows small but consistent QE degradation due to minority carrier recombination at the grain boundaries. No consistent difference is observed in dark current-voltage characteristics because of large diode area and periphery leakage current in the employed heterojunction diodes. Comparing measurement results and results from device modeling using the simulation software Medici, a recombination velocity of 4900 cm/sec is found at the grain boundaries of employed multicrystalline silicon wafer. The modeling and experimental results can also be used to define an effective grain area that serves as a measure of grain boundary recombination and the influence of grain size.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 836: Symposium L – Materials for Photovoltaics , 2004 , L8.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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References

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