Abstract
We analyzed defects in silicon thin-film tandem (a-Si:H/μc-Si:H) modules from an outdoor installation in India. The inspection of several affected modules reveals that most of the defects - which optically appear as bright spots - were formed primarily nearby the separation and series connection laser lines. Cross-sectional SEM analysis reveals that the bright spots emerge due to electrical isolation, caused by a delamination of the cell from the front TCO in the affected area. In addition, the morphology of the a-Si:H top cell differs in the delaminated area compared to the surrounding unaffected area. We propose that these effects are potentially caused by an explosive and thermally triggered liberation of hydrogen from the a-Si:H layer. Electrical and thermal measurements reveal that these defects can impact the cell performance significantly.
Original language | American English |
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Pages | 1080-1082 |
Number of pages | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 18 Nov 2016 |
Event | 43rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016 - Portland, United States Duration: 5 Jun 2016 → 10 Jun 2016 |
Conference
Conference | 43rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2016 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Portland |
Period | 5/06/16 → 10/06/16 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2016 IEEE.
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/CP-5K00-67937
Keywords
- delamination
- encapsulation
- lasers
- morphology
- scanning electron microscopy
- silicon