Research on stable, large-area, amorphous silicon based submodules

Technical Report · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6710484

Catalano, A; Arya, R R; Bennett, M; Fieselmann, B; Goldstein, B; Morris, J; Newton, J; O'Dowd, J; Oswald, R S; Podlesny, R; Wiedeman, S; Yang, L ^[1]

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1. Solarex Corp., Newtown, PA (USA). Thin Film Div.

This research program encompasses materials research, non- semiconductor materials research, and submodule research. Researchers studied the materials' considerations that limit transport in the a-SiGe:H alloys, and developed alloys with improved properties. These studies indicated that the homogeneity of the alloy plays an important role in determining electronic properties. P-type a-SiC:H films were also prepared using trimethylboron as a dopant. The conductivity of the films was about an order of magnitude better than the comparable bandgap diborane-doped film. This allowed devices with improved voltage (0.943 V) to be demonstrated. Scientists also investigated the optimum device structures for the bottom, a-SiGe:H cell. This study concluded that grading the i-regions is an important element in obtaining the best performance, but the results differ significantly from those reported elsewhere. The results of this study have been incorporated in a number of tandem and triple-junction devices that have resulted in efficiencies in the range of 10--11%. A laser-scribing process for the highly reflecting ITO/Ag rear contact has enabled the cell results to be transferred to prototype modules with conversion efficiencies between 9% and 10%. 23 refs., 51 figs., 8 tabs.

• Research Organization: Solar Energy Research Inst., Golden, CO (USA); Solarex Corp., Newtown, PA (USA). Thin Film Div.
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 6710484
• Report Number(s): SERI/TP-211-3805; ON: DE90000339
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501 -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360603* -- Materials-- Properties
ALLOYS
AMORPHOUS STATE
BORON COMPOUNDS
CARBIDES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DOCUMENT TYPES
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY LEVELS
EQUIPMENT
FILMS
GERMANIUM ALLOYS
HYDROGEN
INFRARED SPECTRA
LASER SPECTROSCOPY
MATERIALS
NONMETALS
PHOSPHINES
PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROGRESS REPORT
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
SILICON ALLOYS
SILICON CARBIDES
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPECTRA
SPECTROSCOPY
THIN FILMS