Identifying the recombination losses that limit V/sub oc/ in thin silicon solar cells by bifacial spectral response measurements

This paper describes techniques to identify recombination losses in solar cells. In particular, bifacial spectral response measurements made on operating devices can be used to separate the base and emitter contributions as well as gain insight into the surface passivation contributions to the diode saturation current density J/sub 0/. The contributions of device thickness, surface passivation and contacts to J/sub 0/ are examined by varying the geometry. This separation of the contributions to J/sub 0/ is integral to the design and fabrication of efficient thin silicon solar cells.