Potential-Induced Degradation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Can Occur by Shunting the Front i-ZnO and by Damaging the p-n Junction

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Abstract

In this work we test field-relevant potential-induced degradation (PID) behavior by encapsulating laboratory Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells and applying +1000 V uniformly on the face of the front glass. In this configuration, we find that K-rich borosilicate glass reduces the extent of PID relative to Na-rich soda-lime glass. We also find that the standard testing protocol of stressing cells at short-circuit leads to faster PID than stressing cells at open-circuit. We characterize two types of CIGS PID: The first, front shunting PID, is driven by front-glass stress and occurs when alkali metal cations accumulate in the i-ZnO buffer, where they increase shunt conductance to reduce fill factor. The second, p-n junction PID, results from back-glass stress as alkali metal cations pile up near the CIGS surface/CdS buffer, where they reduce charge carrier concentration, open-circuit voltage, and fill factor to degrade efficiency ∼160 times faster than front shunting PID.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)298-303
Number of pages6
JournalSolar Energy
Volume232
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5K00-80845

Keywords

  • Chalcopyrite
  • Cu(In
  • Ga)Se
  • Photovoltaics
  • Potential-induced degradation
  • Reliability
  • Thin-film

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