{"title":"Phosphorus and aluminum gettering-investigation of synergistic effects in single-crystal and multicrystalline silicon [solar cells]","authors":"W. K. Schubert, J. Gee","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564037","url":null,"abstract":"Synergistic effects from simultaneous phosphorus diffusion/aluminum-alloy gettering are investigated in three different crystalline-silicon substrate solar cells. The silicon materials, experimental design, characterization and analysis are presented. Some evidence for synergism is observed in the finished solar cells on all three substrate types. These results are combined with complementary observations of the effects of oxidation on bulk properties of previously gettered substrates to suggest a high-volume, low-cost process implementation which could give up to 9% relative increase in solar cell efficiency.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128927866","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":"Combined characterization of inhomogeneities in DCM multicrystalline silicon wafers [solar cells]","authors":"A. Fukatsu, T. Saitoh, I. Hide","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564039","url":null,"abstract":"The qualities of multicrystalline silicon solar cell wafers fabricated by a drip-control method are characterized by a combined method including minority carrier lifetime, diffusion length and laser-beam induced photocurrent maps. Low-quality regions exist at peripheral and top regions of the ingots. The relation between the diffusion lengths and lifetimes measured separately can be approximately described by the usual square root equation. Laser-beam induced current maps of fabricated solar cells are relatively uniform for the inhomogeneous quality wafers. This result suggests that the quality may change during solar cell processing presumably due to gettering lifetime killer impurities.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123734961","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":"EMC of PV-plants with line-commutated inverters","authors":"A. Kempe, Uwe Schonwandt","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564382","url":null,"abstract":"The new European EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) standard (EN 61000-3-2) became valid from the beginning of 1996, and although a revision may already be considered, producers of PV-inverters will have to face a growing interest in their equipment's EMC-properties. In the case of line-commutated inverters EMC-problems are mainly related with current harmonics and power factor. In this paper it is shown by simulation and measurements that a usual 6-pulse inverter will cope with the above standards in the whole range of operation up to 11 kW, if an adequate passive LC-filter is introduced into the grid connection. Since this filter almost does not affect the inverter's efficiency, it is considered to be a very effective and economic solution to line bound EMC-problems. The results are presented in the form of diagrams for easy reference to the designer. The radio interference can be avoided using the standard thyristor RC-damping against fast voltage gradients.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130919365","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":"Solar array passive functional tests","authors":"R. Mueller, D. Burger","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564008","url":null,"abstract":"Passive functional tests are required to monitor the health of Mars Pathfinder solar arrays. To accomplish this, a Solar Array Ground Support Equipment Testbed (SAGSET) was proposed with five passive tests to be performed in sequence: positive and negative bus isolation from substrate; solar array string isolation from substrate; string blocking diode forward conduction; string blocking diode reverse leakage; and dark forward IV (DFIV) curves of the solar array strings. It was established that the DFIV test could not easily discriminate a good cell string from a damaged cell string. String capacitance measurements proved to be a superior alternative. Both the DFIV and capacitance tests suffer from one basic problem-the impact of a loss of cell area in one cell is reduced by the remaining series cells in the string. However, tests showed a factor of 4.6 temperature sensitivity advantage and a factor of 18 to 22 cell area loss sensitivity advantage for capacitance measurements. Using these findings, the SAGSFT was reconfigured to have seven passive tests. The DFIV test was deleted and three tests were added: solar array string continuity; string parallel capacitance; and string series capacitance. All of these passive solar array tests were successfully computerized using the SAGSET. The capacitance is measured as a component of both a series and parallel network which includes resistance as the other component. The series capacitance test impedance angle may prove to be as useful as the capacitance measurement. Problems usually encountered with cracked cells are not easily identified by any type of passive testing so a visual inspection of an array is still recommended.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130213101","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}
L. Chen, F. Willing, L. Yang, Y. Li, N. Maley, K. Rajan, M. Bennett, R. Arya
{"title":"Stability of large-area amorphous silicon alloy tandem solar modules","authors":"L. Chen, F. Willing, L. Yang, Y. Li, N. Maley, K. Rajan, M. Bennett, R. Arya","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564332","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564332","url":null,"abstract":"A dual bandgap, dual junction a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H solar cell has been selected as the structure to be used in Solarex's new 10 MW solar module plant. This structure offers high initial efficiency, good stability, low material usage, and short deposition time. Thousands of one square foot and four square foot tandem modules have been produced on the Solarex pilot line, and an average of 8% stabilized efficiency on 4 square foot modules in the trial production, and 8.6% on 1 square foot modules in R&D were achieved with this structure. Good agreement was found in the stability of modules tested outdoors and indoors, and also with an array of test modules set up at NREL. An improved tandem structure with better stability is being developed by optimizing the i-layer thickness and back junction bandgap. The current loss associated with thinner i-layers was well compensated by improvements in fill factor, open-circuit voltage, and stability. Two environmental degradation modes for modules other than Staebler-Wronski effect were identified and solutions implemented.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127922679","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}
P. Chiang, J. Ermer, W. Nishikawa, D. Krut, D. Joslin, J. Eldredge, B. Cavicchi, J. Olson
{"title":"Experimental results of GaInP/sub 2//GaAs/Ge triple junction cell development for space power systems","authors":"P. Chiang, J. Ermer, W. Nishikawa, D. Krut, D. Joslin, J. Eldredge, B. Cavicchi, J. Olson","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.563977","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.563977","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes the successful demonstration of high efficiency, large area monolithic triple-junction, n-on-p, GaInP/sub 2//GaAs/Ge cells. The highest cell efficiency (cell size: 2 cm/spl times/2 cm) measured to date is 25.7%, under 1 sun, AM0 illumination. A very uniform distribution of cell efficiency across a 3\" diameter wafer is also achieved. The average efficiency of 164, 2 cm/spl times/2 cm triple junction cells and 52 cell-interconnect-cover (CIC) assemblies are 22.6% and 21.9%, respectively. The results of temperature coefficient, 1 MeV electron irradiation and thermal cycle measurements (for CICs) are also reported.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"03 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128848050","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}
K. A. Lindahl, D. Olson, J. J. Moore, A. Swartzlander, R. Noufi
{"title":"Quantitative investigation of reactions in copper-indium-gallium multilayer thin films","authors":"K. A. Lindahl, D. Olson, J. J. Moore, A. Swartzlander, R. Noufi","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564286","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564286","url":null,"abstract":"Multilayer thin films of Cu-In, Cu-Ga, and Cu-In-Ga have been analyzed in order to understand thin film phase transformations that are relevant to the production of Cu(In,Ga)Se/sub 2/ (CIGS) photovoltaic solar cells. For example, the intermetallic phases present during selenization of precursor films will impact film microstructure and influence the resulting properties. In this research, phase formation sequences were predicted by application of the effective heat of formation model. The accuracy of these predictions was then explored experimentally. Through the use of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the reaction kinetics of product film formation were examined. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has been used to determine reactant and product phases. Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) has been used to explore segregation within the film.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126686910","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":"Temperature dependence of p-i-n HIT solar cell characteristics","authors":"J. Furlan, P. Popovic, F. Smole, M. Topič","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564324","url":null,"abstract":"The regional approximation method is used for calculating temperature dependent p-i-n a-Si/c-Si HIT (heterojunction with thin intrinsic layer) solar cell characteristics. The emphasis in the analysis is given to the mechanisms which dominantly govern the temperature dependence of HIT cell conversion efficiency. The current transport in a p-i-n HIT cell is suppressed by drift-diffusion limitations in the intrinsic layer and by large valence-band offset at the a-Si/c-Si heterojunction. With increasing temperature, the onset of transport limitations is shifted toward higher forward voltages, causing an enhanced transfer of photogenerated holes and resulting in a lower temperature dependence of HIT cell conversion efficiency.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126889363","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":"Low temperature fabrication of thin film polycrystalline Si solar cell on the glass substrate and its application to the a-Si:H/polycrystalline Si tandem solar cell","authors":"K. Yamamoto, T. Suzuki, M. Yoshimi, A. Nakajima","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564215","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564215","url":null,"abstract":"The excellent high short circuit current density (Jsc) above 24 mA/cm/sup 2/ and the efficiency of 6.8% at the 6 /spl mu/m thin cell fabricated on glass substrate is demonstrated. This advantage of high Jsc was applied to the a-Si:H(0.3 /spl mu/nm)/polycrystalline-Si(6 /spl mu/m) tandem solar cell, which exhibits the efficiency of 10.4% and the Jsc of 11.6 mA/cm/sup 2/. We have found that the textured Si thin film can be prepared by adjusting the deposition conditions. The 4 /spl mu/m thick textured Si thin film showed an effective optical thickness of 67 /spl mu/m and corresponding effective optical pass length of 16 times the layer thickness.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"111 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121542064","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}
R. Taylor, D. Arent, S. Baldwin, R. McConnell, J. Stone, H. Ullal, C. Warner, W. Wallace, P. Klimas, E. Richards, C. Hanley, J. Strachan
{"title":"Opportunities and issues in international photovoltaic market development","authors":"R. Taylor, D. Arent, S. Baldwin, R. McConnell, J. Stone, H. Ullal, C. Warner, W. Wallace, P. Klimas, E. Richards, C. Hanley, J. Strachan","doi":"10.1109/PVSC.1996.564412","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.1996.564412","url":null,"abstract":"The confluence of technology development and market readiness is opening up major business opportunities for photovoltaic (PV) power systems throughout the developing world. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque (Sandia), working on behalf of the US Department of Energy, have launched pilot projects in several countries throughout the world over the past 3 years. The focus of these pilot projects has been the development of in-country institutional capabilities necessary to deliver the promise of PV electricity to the rural populations. In addition to country-specific activities, NREL is conducting several technology, information and partnership projects focused on further accelerating the education, training, business and technology developments necessary to bridge the gap between promise and reality. This paper summarizes these efforts.","PeriodicalId":410394,"journal":{"name":"Conference Record of the Twenty Fifth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1996","volume":"66 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123014204","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}