A Cathodoluminescence Study on the Diffusion Length in AlGaInP/InGaP/AlInP Solar Cell Heterostructures

The photonic's method is used in the study of monocristalline silicon solar cell (N+P). The induced photocurrent in the cell is analyzed with respect to the technological parameters such as the optical absorption coefficient of silicon and the emitter and base thickness. The spatial and frequential variations of the photocurrent of the cell, when the latter is illuminated by a sinusoidal modulated light, allow access to the diffusion length and lifetime of the minority carriers generated in a given region of the cell. In this paper, the physical parameters related to the base region are determined. In addition, this access is shown to be possible only when the total photocurrent of the cell is reduced to the base diffusion photocurrent.

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Effect of grain boundaries in silicon on minority‐carrier diffusion length and solar‐cell efficiency

Applied Physics Letters ◽

10.1063/1.90250 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 33 (12) ◽

pp. 1009-1011 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

T. Daud ◽

K. M. Koliwad ◽

F. G. Allen

Keyword(s):

Solar Cell ◽

Grain Boundaries ◽

Minority Carrier ◽

Diffusion Length ◽

Minority Carrier Diffusion Length ◽

Carrier Diffusion ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency

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Diffusion length and interface recombination velocity measurement of a GaAs solar cell using two emitter fabrications and quantum yield

Solar Cells ◽

10.1016/0379-6787(90)90056-b ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 223-232 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

L.D. Partain ◽

D.D. Liu ◽

M.S. Kuryla ◽

R.K. Ahrenkiel ◽

S.E. Asher

Keyword(s):

Solar Cell ◽

Quantum Yield ◽

Velocity Measurement ◽

Diffusion Length ◽

Interface Recombination ◽

Interface Recombination Velocity ◽

Recombination Velocity

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Ambipolar Diffusion Length in CuGaSe2Thin Films for Solar Cell Applications Measured by Steady-State Photocarrier Grating Technique

Japanese Journal of Applied Physics ◽

10.7567/jjaps.32s3.45 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 32 (S3) ◽

pp. 45 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

R. Menner ◽

S. Zweigart ◽

R. Klenk ◽

H. W. Schock

Keyword(s):

Steady State ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Diffusion Length ◽

Ambipolar Diffusion

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Improved Ambipolar Diffusion Length in a-Si1-xGex:H Alloys for Multi-Junction Solar Cells

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-377-517 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 377 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

J. Fölsch ◽

F. Finger ◽

T. Kulessa ◽

F. Siebke ◽

W. Beyer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Silicon Germanium ◽

Diffusion Length ◽

Defect Density ◽

Chemical Vapour ◽

Film Structure ◽

Ambipolar Diffusion ◽

Active Layer Thickness ◽

Solar Cell Performance

ABSTRACTTo prepare hydrogenated amorphous silicon-germanium alloys as low gap material for multi-junction solar cells in plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition, the well established concept of strong dilution of the process gases with hydrogen has been used. Two different regimes of alloying were found: for low Ge content (x < 0.40) we observe material with low defect density, small Urbach energy and high values of the ambipolar diffusion length. In the regime of high Ge content (x > 0.40) the defect densities and Urbach energies are high and the values of the ambipolar diffusion length low. The transition is accompanied by the appearance of a low-temperature peak in hydrogen effusion experiments indicating a void rich film structure. Material from just above and below the transition zone is used in pin solar cells leading to a much enhanced red response compared with a-Si:H cells. The differences seen in the material quality are mirrored in the solar cell properties. By carefully adjusting the active layer thickness material with low diffusion length shows also reasonable solar cell performance.

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Influence of the optical and recombination losses on the efficiency of CdS/CdTe solar cell at ultrathin absorber layer

Canadian Journal of Physics ◽

10.1139/cjp-2013-0477 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 92 (11) ◽

pp. 1350-1355 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

H. A. Mohamed

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Current Density ◽

Diffusion Length ◽

Electron Lifetime ◽

Optical Losses ◽

Cdte Solar Cell ◽

Maximum Value ◽

Electron Diffusion Length ◽

Good Agreement

The effect of low thickness of CdTe on optical, front, and back recombination losses and hence on the efficiency of a CdS/CdTe solar cell is studied theoretically in this work. It is found that the optical losses are about 23%–24% and depend weakly on CdTe thickness. The recombination losses are about 28% at dCdTe = 0.45 μm and decrease to 23% at dCdTe = 1.1 μm because the recombination losses have significant effects at thinner layers. The recorded efficiency is in the 9.5%–10.5% range corresponding to the thickness of CdTe of 0.45–1.1 μm and it is considered in good agreement with experimental results. The electron diffusion length is in the range of 1.6–15.8 μm and corresponds to 10−9–10−7 s of the electron lifetime is sufficient to make the current density reaches its maximum value (16.3 mA/cm2) at dCdTe = 1.1 μm with efficiency of 10.5%.When the CdTe thickness is assumed to be 5 μm, which is often used in the fabrication of CdTe-based solar cells, the calculated current density is about 20 mA/cm2 and the corresponding efficiency is 13%. The present results lead to the shrinking of the gap between the theoretical and practical results and contribute to improving the efficiency of CdS/CdTe cells in the future.

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