A novel approach for correlating capacitance data with performance during thin-film device stress studies

Rebekah L. Graham; Laura A. Clark; David S. Albin

doi:10.1117/12.896648

13 September 2011 A novel approach for correlating capacitance data with performance during thin-film device stress studies

Rebekah L. Graham, Laura A. Clark, David S. Albin

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8112, Reliability of Photovoltaic Cells, Modules, Components, and Systems IV; 81120V (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.896648
Event: SPIE Solar Energy + Technology, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A new data mining algorithm was developed to identify the strongest correlations between capacitance data (measured between -1.5 V and +0.49 V) and first- and second-level performance metrics (efficiency [η%], open-circuit voltage [V_OC], short-circuit current density [J_SC], and fill-factor [FF]) during the stress testing of voltage-stabilized CdS/CdTe devices. When considering only correlations between first- and second-level metrics, 96.5% of the observed variation in η% was attributed to FF. The overall decrease in V_OC after 1,000 hours of open-circuit, light-soak stress at 60°C was about -1.5%. As determined by our algorithm, the most consistent correlation existing between FF and third-level metric capacitance data at all stages during stress testing was between FF and the apparent CdTe acceptor density (N_a) calculated at a voltage of +0.49 V during forward voltage scans. Since the contribution of back-contact capacitance to total capacitance increases with increasing positive voltage, this result suggests that FF degradation is associated with decreases in N_a near the CdTe/back contact interface. Also of interest, it appears that capacitance data at these higher voltages appears to more accurately fit the one-sided abrupt junction model.

Citation Download Citation

Rebekah L. Graham, Laura A. Clark, and David S. Albin "A novel approach for correlating capacitance data with performance during thin-film device stress studies", Proc. SPIE 8112, Reliability of Photovoltaic Cells, Modules, Components, and Systems IV, 81120V (13 September 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.896648

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