{"title":"Large area shunt defect free GaAs solar cells","authors":"L. Kilmer, A. Barnett","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111596","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111596","url":null,"abstract":"Shunt defects have been found to be the type of defect that can degrade and cause failure in GaAs solar cells. Because of their catastrophic effects, it is necessary to ensure that no shunt defects are formed in the solar cell. A technique for fabricating large-area shunt-defect-free GaAs solar cells has been investigated. A Be-doped GaAlAs window layer was grown directly on an n-type GaAs substrate by isothermal liquid-phase epitaxial growth (ILPE). By growing directly on the GaAs substrate and not growing the usual buffer, absorber, collector, and window layer combination, the fabrication is simplified and yields can be large. It was found that Be from the liquid GaAlAs melt diffused into the GaAs to form a complete collector layer. Because the collector is complete, a shunt-defect-free solar cell is produced. The results of the ILPE growth are reported for both 5.1 cm/sup 2/ and 0.12 cm/sup 2/ solar cells. The technique is very versatile and may be used to fabricate larger-area solar cells.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115000858","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emitter structures in MOCVD InP solar cells","authors":"C. Keavney, V. Haven, S. Vernon","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111606","url":null,"abstract":"InP solar cells have been made by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) with a graded-junction or front-surface-field structure, in which the doping decreases from 3*10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/ at the surface to 3*10/sup 18/ cm/sup -3/ at the junction. Improvement was observed in the short-wavelength quantum efficiency and in the overall conversion efficiency relative to standard shallow-homojunction cells, indicating that the graded structure improved collection of carriers generated near the surface. A beginning-of-life conversion efficiency of 19.1% AM0 was measured on a 4-cm/sup 2/ cell. Measurements on similar cells showed an average of 4.7% degradation after irradiation with 10/sup 14/-cm/sup -2/ electrons at 1 MeV.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115743119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lateral distribution of metallic impurities in silicon bicrystals investigated by scanning MCTS","authors":"T. Heiser, A. Mesli, P. Siffert","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111712","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111712","url":null,"abstract":"Scanning minority carrier transient spectroscopy (SMCTS) is introduced as a tool to study interactions of impurities with extended defects. The optimum working conditions are discussed, and the influence of the sample surface preparation on the MCTS response is shown. Consequences for the SMCTS measurements are described. Gold- and iron-related defect interactions with grain boundaries are investigated by means of SMCTS.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117179701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"High efficiency GaAs solar cells using GaInP/sub 2/ window layers","authors":"S. Kurtz, J. Olson, A. Kibbler","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111605","url":null,"abstract":"GaAs single-junction solar cells using Ga/sub 0.5/In/sub 0.5/P and having 1 sun, an air mass (AM) of 1.5, and global efficiencies of 25.0-25.7% are reported. The open-circuit voltage (V/sub oc/), short-circuit current (J/sub sc/), and fill factor (ff) for the 25.7% efficient cell were 1.039 V, 28.5 mA/cm/sup 2/, and 86.8%, respectively. The devices were grown at 700 degrees C using conventional atmospheric pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The antireflection coating is a double layer of MgF/sub 2/ and ZnS. V/sub oc/'s as high as 1.055 V were obtained for some of the devices. This high V/sub oc/ is attributed to the low interface recombination velocity of the Ga/sub 0.5/In/sub 0.5/P-GaAs heterointerface. Factors that affect the efficiency of this device, including the thickness and composition of the Ga/sub 0.5/In/sub 0.5/P window layer, are presented and discussed.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124816142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. L. Rock, D. Cunningham, C. L. Kendall, R. Hall, A. Barnett
{"title":"Process induced improvements in polycrystalline silicon-film solar cells","authors":"M. L. Rock, D. Cunningham, C. L. Kendall, R. Hall, A. Barnett","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111697","url":null,"abstract":"Thin polycrystalline silicon-film solar cell efficiencies and minority carrier diffusion lengths have been improved by the use of specialized processing techniques. These techniques include phosphorous gettering, aluminum gettering coupled with a deep diffusion, hydrogen passivation, SiO2 surface passivation, and low-temperature annealing. A processing sequence combining several of these techniques has resulted in minority carrier diffusion length increases of up to 100% and in the achievement of a 15.7% 1 cm/sup 2/ laboratory-scale solar cell. Transfer of the processes to commercial-scale devices has led to similar increases in minority carrier diffusion lengths and to efficiency improvements of up to 30%.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115353374","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Advancements in silicon buried contact solar cells","authors":"S. Wenham, F. Zhang, C. Chong, M. Green","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111640","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111640","url":null,"abstract":"Large-area laser-grooved concentrator cells of 22-23% efficiency at 20 suns are described. The role of laser texturing in forming macrogrooves in the surface is examined, particularly with reference to their abilities to reduce reflection, reduce emitter resistive losses, and increase the effective minority carrier diffusion lengths of the substrate. An overview is given of the application of the laser grooving and texturing approaches to polycrystalline substrates. A new generation of buried contact solar cells is described with emphasis on the identified structural changes believed capable of producing short-term efficiency improvements at 1 sun to 23% and in the long term to 25%.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115573328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Performance evaluation of CLEFT GaAs/CuInSe/sub 2/ tandem cell circuits through solar simulator testing and computer modeling","authors":"R. Burgess, M. Flora, M. Schneider","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111829","url":null,"abstract":"CLEFT GaAs/CuInSe/sub 2/ (CIS) tandem cell development has proceeded to circuit fabrication and testing. Solar simulator tests have been conducted to characterize tandem cell circuits under various environments and configurations. Three test panels were fabricated. each containing up to 30 tandem cell modules. These panels contained circuits with the ratio of CIS cells in series to each series GaAs cell from 2:1 to 3:1 (defined as a series ratio), and circuits with 0% to 6% Imp mismatch between two substrings in series, where each substring consisted of three CIS cells in series to three GaAs cells in parallel. One panel contained a single circuit of ten closely matched 3:1 substrings in series. The electrical performance of these circuits was measured over 18 degrees C to 55 degrees C. Electrical performance test results demonstrated that a 3:1 series ratio maximizes circuit output at 28 degrees C and that current mismatch between substring circuits must be tightly controlled to prevent reverse voltage bias operation.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116526628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Key factors limiting the open circuit voltage of n/sup +/pp/sup +/ indium phosphide solar cells","authors":"C. Goradia, W. Thesling, I. Weinberg","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111653","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111653","url":null,"abstract":"The problem of the presently obtained best open-circuit voltage (V/sub oc/) values of n/sup +/pp/sup +/ InP solar cells being considerably smaller than those predicted by basic theory is theoretically investigated. The values of some key parameters in the cells are obtained with a computer model by closely matching theoretical and measured curves for illuminated I-V, log I/sub sc/-V/sub oc/, and spectral response characteristics of a high-efficiency (17.9%) InP solar cell made by the Spire Corporation. An optimally designed InP solar cell with nearly the best efficiency that it is capable of providing in the n/sup +/pp/sup +/ shallow homojunction structure is described and modeled using these parameters. The performance parameters of the optimally designed solar cell are calculated, and it is shown that such a cell is capable of having an efficiency of 22.61% under 1 AM0 at 27 degrees C (300 K). Using a baseline solar cell design which is a slightly modified and improved version of the Spire 6 cell, the key factors which limit the open-circuit voltage V/sub oc/ of such a solar cell are discussed.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122819533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An extended 'collection length model' for the description of keV electron induced degradation and thermal recovery of p-i-n solar cells","authors":"U. Schneider, B. Schroder","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111862","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111862","url":null,"abstract":"The results of kiloelectronvolt-electron degradation a and annealing experiments obtained on a-Si:H-based p-i-n solar cells are interpreted using models developed earlier for the degradation of a-Si:H films and are placed in the framework of an extended collection length model. The strong degradation of the short-circuit current and fill factor due to considerable kiloelectronvolt-electron irradiation can be explained quantitatively. This makes possible a crucial test of the validity of the mathematical models for the kiloelectronvolt-electron-induced effects developed so far. It is shown that the major part of these reversible changes can be attributed to bulk effects: interface properties do not have to be considered. Furthermore, the results of a detailed investigation of the thermal recovery of electron-degraded solar cells can be explained consistently. Some unresolved issues are discussed, and experiments to resolve these questions are proposed.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"140 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114432476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Photovoltaics: meeting the environmental imperatives of clean air and climate change","authors":"W. Moomaw","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1990.111583","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1990.111583","url":null,"abstract":"In order to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide even at current elevated levels, computer models suggest the need to reduce emission rates by approximately 75%. An analysis of policy options shows that a combination of vastly improved energy efficiency strategies and carbon-free energy production technologies will be essential to even slowing the rate of global warming. Current knowledge of the greenhouse effect and its consequences area summarized, and how photovoltaic (PV) electricity can contribute toward atmospheric stabilization goals is examined. Some specific examples and strategies that may accelerate the rate at which PV technologies can penetrate the market are given.<<ETX>>","PeriodicalId":211778,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Conference on Photovoltaic Specialists","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1990-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116723352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}