Electron irradiation effects on the shunt resistance of silicon solar cells

✍ Scribed by S. Banerjee; W.A. Anderson

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1987
• Weight: 278 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0379-6787
• DOI: 10.1016/0379-6787(87)90006-8

✦ Synopsis

Shunt resistance Rsh values greater than 5 × 10 6 ~-~ have been measured for high efficiency silicon solar cells fabricated by a low temperature diffusion technique, whereas lower values ((0.5 -1.0) × l0 s ~2) were obtained for ion-implanted solar cells. A degradation in Rsh values by an order of magnitude was observed after electron irradiations of 1 MeV to a fluence of 1 × 1016 e-cm -2. Temperature dependence studies indicated a rapid decrease in R,h above a threshold temperature which is sensitive to the device quality. As the fluence of irradiation increased, very little shift in the threshold temperature towards lower values was observed. The degradation in Rsh causes an enhancement in the dark saturation current which is partly responsible for degradation in the open-circuit voltage of the devices.