Defect Generation and Propagation in MC-Si Ingots: Influence on Cell-to-Cell Performance Variation

B. Sopori, P. Rupnowski, S. Shet, V. Mehta, M. Seacrist, G. Shi, J. Chen, A. Deshpande

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

1 Scopus Citations

Abstract

This paper describes results of our study aimed at understanding mechanism(s) of dislocation generation and propagation in multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) ingots, and evaluating their influence on the solar cell performance. This work was done in two parts: (i) Measurement of dislocation distributions along various bricks, selected from strategic locations within several ingots; and (ii) Theoretical modeling of the cell performance corresponding to the measured dislocation distributions. Solar cells were fabricated on wafers of known dislocation distribution, and the results were compared with the theory. These results show that cell performance can be accurately predicted from the dislocation distribution, and the changes in the dislocation distribution are the primary cause for variations in the cell-to-cell performance. The dislocation generation and propagation mechanisms, suggested by our results, are described in this paper.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages3440-3445
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Event37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2011 - Seattle, WA, United States
Duration: 19 Jun 201124 Jun 2011

Conference

Conference37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, PVSC 2011
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySeattle, WA
Period19/06/1124/06/11

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/AB-5200-50704

Keywords

  • dislocation generation
  • multicrystalline silicon
  • solar cell performance

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