Development of copper sulfide/cadmium sulfide thin-film solar cells. Thirteenth technical progress report, July 1, 1982-September 30, 1982

Technical Report · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5869012· OSTI ID:5869012

Szedon, J. R.; Krishnaswamy, S. V.; McMullin, P. G.

During this period we modified the characteristics of a completed cell by laser treatment in order to alter the sensitivity of the heterojunction behavior to the aging effects of oxygen and moisture. Previously we associated the changes in opposing current which affect the open-circuit voltage of the cells during aging with an increased value of the electric field in the space charge region. The present work demonstrates a strong correlation between the short-circuit current behavior and the density of deep donor states which control open-circuit voltage behavior. Practically speaking, the general degradation trends in the short-circuit current and the opposing current behavior, which we observed in control cells earlier, occur after substantial delay in the laser-treated cell. The laser treatment reduced the rate of the degradation effects in question by at least one order of magnitude. Furthermore, during the early stages of aging in wet oxygen, the laser-treated cell performance was enhanced in terms of both short-circuit current and opposing current.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-77CH00178
• OSTI ID: 5869012
• Report Number(s): SERI/PR-8143-1-T12; ON: DE83016971
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
AGING
ANNEALING
CADMIUM SULFIDE SOLAR CELLS
CHALCOGENIDES
COPPER COMPOUNDS
COPPER SULFIDES
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FILMS
HEAT TREATMENTS
HETEROJUNCTIONS
HYDROGEN
JUNCTIONS
LASERS
NONMETALS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS