Correlation between material properties and photovoltaic performance in amorphous silicon solar cells

Masao Isomura; Yoshihiro Hishikawa; Toshihiro Kinoshita; Shingo Okamoto; Manabu Sasaki; Tsuyoshi Takahama; Takao Matsuyama; Shinya Tsuda

doi:10.1117/12.161962

22 October 1993 Correlation between material properties and photovoltaic performance in amorphous silicon solar cells

Masao Isomura, Yoshihiro Hishikawa, Toshihiro Kinoshita, Shingo Okamoto, Manabu Sasaki, Tsuyoshi Takahama, Takao Matsuyama, Shinya Tsuda

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2017, Optical Materials Technology for Energy Efficiency and Solar Energy Conversion XII; (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.161962
Event: SPIE's 1993 International Symposium on Optics, Imaging, and Instrumentation, 1993, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

We have focused on the i-layer material in our efforts to improve in the conversion efficiency of a-Si:H solar cells. Reductions in the defect density has been also investigated from the viewpoints of extrinsic (impurities) and intrinsic effects. The main incorporated impurity in a- Si:H is oxygen, which affects the conversion efficiency of a-Si:H solar cells by increasing the defect density and its donorlike behavior. A unified relationship can be observed among the properties of intrinsic (pure) a-Si:H. The film deposition rate plays an essential role in controlling the properties. A lower or higher deposition rate results in a narrower or wider bandgap, respectively. Therefore, the properties of a-Si:H can be controlled independent of the substrate temperature in a certain range by varying the film deposition rate. The controllability of the a-Si:H properties can be improved by applying vibrational / rotational energy to SiH₄ molecules or related radicals by heating the source gas, and a-Si:H with the same properties as the best conventional one can be deposited at a lower substrate temperature and/or a higher film deposition rate. The highest conversion efficiency of 12% for an integrated a-Si solar cell submodule of 100 cm² has been achieved by combining the high-quality i-layer and other technologies.

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Masao Isomura, Yoshihiro Hishikawa, Toshihiro Kinoshita, Shingo Okamoto, Manabu Sasaki, Tsuyoshi Takahama, Takao Matsuyama, and Shinya Tsuda "Correlation between material properties and photovoltaic performance in amorphous silicon solar cells", Proc. SPIE 2017, Optical Materials Technology for Energy Efficiency and Solar Energy Conversion XII, (22 October 1993); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.161962

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