highlights in this page

Electrical characterization of thin film solar cells and absorbers

Exemplarily temperature- and frequency dependence of the capacitance for a thin film solar cell. Two capacitance steps are observed for this device.

Band diagram of a Schottky contact including a deep defect and the change of charge with respect to a small test voltage

Contacting of a thin film Cu(In,Ga)Se2 based solar cell for temperature dependent electrical characterization

CHEETAH WEBINAR

Dr.	Stephan Buecheler	10^th May 2017 11:00 –12:10 CEST
Dr.	Thomas P. Weiss	10^th May 2017 11:00 –12:10 CEST
	EMPA Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt - Laboratory for Thin Films & Photovoltaics

Characterization of thin film solar cells exhibits a number of challenges compared to Si solar cells. Recombinative interfaces, band alignment and barriers for example caused by hetero interfaces, may have a great impact on various measurements. Being aware of these complications will help in drawing false conclusions from measurement data.

The course will cover the following topics and analysis procedures

IV – Current – Voltage: the evaluation of the IV curve in the framework of the 1-diode model. Deviations from the 1-diode model.
CV – Capacitance voltage: the analysis of the built-in voltage and the doping density by analyzing the voltage dependence of the capacitance
TAS – Thermal admittance spectroscopy: the detection of deep defects within in the bulk of the absorber and possible barriers in the solar cell structure