Thin film polycrystalline silicon solar cells. Quarterly report No. 1, January 1-March 31, 1979

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:6626003

Ghosh, A K; Feng, T; Maruska, H P; Fishman, C

A theory capable of predicting the performance of polycrystalline silicon solar cells is formulated. It relates grain size to mobility, lifetime, diffusion length, reverse saturation current, open circuit photovoltage and fill factor. Only the diffusion lengths measured by the surface photovoltage technique for grains less than or equal to 5 ..mu..m do not agree with the theory. The reason for this discrepancy is presently being investigated. It is concluded that grains greater than or equal to 100 ..mu..m are necessary to achieve efficiencies greater than or equal to 10 percent at AMl irradiance. The calculations were performed for the case of no grain boundary passivation. The improvements to be expected from grain boundary passivation are under investigation. The following types of solar cells are considered in the model: SnO/sub 2//Si Heterostructure, MIS, and p/n junction. In all types of solar cells considered, grain boundary recombination plays a dominant role, especially for small grains. Though the calculations were originally expected to yield only order of magnitude results, they have proven to be accurate for most parameters within 10 percent. It is almost impossible to cover every aspect of solar cell performance in one theory. But it is felt that the present theory is the most extensive theory ever postulated for polycrystalline silicon solar cells. (WHK)

• Research Organization: Exxon Research and Engineering Co., Linden, NJ (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-79ET23047
• OSTI ID: 6626003
• Report Number(s): DOE/ET/23047-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
656000 -- Condensed Matter Physics
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CARRIER LIFETIME
CARRIER MOBILITY
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CRYSTALS
CURRENTS
DIFFUSION LENGTH
DIMENSIONS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DOPED MATERIALS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FILL FACTORS
GRAIN BOUNDARIES
GRAIN SIZE
LENGTH
LIFETIME
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MICROSTRUCTURE
MOBILITY
PERFORMANCE
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICS
POLYCRYSTALS
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SIZE
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLID STATE PHYSICS