Compressive Sensing Mapping System for Spatial Characterization of Photovoltaic Devices

Abstract

Photocurrent mapping (PM) is a non-destructive characterization method of solar cells and panels. It is used in the industry for quality control in the production of photovoltaic devices, in scientific laboratories to characterize new materials, and in photovoltaic facilities to find module failures. The PM consists of applying a laser light beam perpendicularly on a photovoltaic device, scanning the surface point by point, and measuring the induced current as a function of the position of the beam. These systems require a high degree of mechanical stability, which leads to an increase in the characterization times when the area is large. In recent years, it has been made progress in the use of compressive sensing algorithms applied in PM tests in order to reduce moving parts and the measuring times. In this work we apply the compressive sensing technique to obtain a photocurrent map of Si photovoltaic devices. Results are compared with the ones obtained by the conventional technique.