The use of solar energy generation is steadily increasing, and photovoltaic modules are connected in series to generate higher voltage and power. However, solar panels are exposed to high-voltage stress (up to several hundreds of volts) between grounded module frames and the solar cells. Frequent high-voltage stress causes a power-drop in the modules, and this kind of degradation is called potential induced degradation (PID). Due to PID, a significant loss of power and performance has been reported in recent years. Many groups have suggested how to prevent or reduce PID, and have tried to determine the origin and mechanism of PID. Even so, the mechanism of PID is still unclear. This paper is focused on understanding the PID of crystalline-silicon solar cells and modules. A background for PID, as well as overviews of research on factors accelerating PID, mechanisms involving sodium ions, PID test methods, and possible solutions to the problem of PID, are covered in this paper.

When sunlight irradiates a boron-doped p-type solar cell, the formation of BsO2i decreases the power-conversion efficiency in a phenomenon named light-induced degradation (LID). In this study, we used boron-doped p-type Cz-Si solar cells to monitor this degradation process in relation to irradiation wavelength, intensity and duration of the light source, and investigated the reliability of the LID effects, as well. When halogen light irradiated a substrate, the LID rate increased more rapidly than for irradiation with xenon light. For different intensities of halogen light (e.g., 1 SUN and 0.1 SUN), a lower-limit value of LID showed a similar trend in each case; however, the rate reached at the intensity of 0.1 SUN was three times slower than that at 1 SUN. Open-circuit voltage increased with increasing duration of irradiation because the defect-formation rate of LID was slow. Therefore, we suppose that sufficient time is needed to increase LID defects. After a recovery process to restore the initial value, the lower-limit open-circuit voltage exhibited during the re-degradation process showed a trend similar to that in the first degradation process. We suggest that the proportion of the LID in boron-doped p-type Cz-Si solar cells has high correlation with the normalized defect concentrations (NDC) of BsO2i. This can be calculated using the extracted minority-carrier diffusion-length with internal quantum efficiency (IQE) analysis.

In this study, we prepare polymer solar cells incorporating organic ligand-modified Ag nanoparticles (O-AgNPs) highly dispersed in the P3HT:PCBM layer. Ag nanoparticles decorated with water-dispersible ligands (W-AgNPs) were also utilized as a control sample. The existence of the ligands on the Ag surface was confirmed by FT-IR spectra. Metal nanoparticles with different surface chemistries exhibited different dispersion tendencies. O-AgNPswere highly dispersed even at high concentrations, whereas W-AgNPs exhibited significant aggregation in the polymerlayer. Both dispersion and blending concentration of the Ag nanoparticles in P3HT:PCBM matrix had critical effects onthe device performance as well as light absorption. The significant changes in short-circuit current density (JSC) of thesolar cells seemed to be related to the change in the polymer morphology according to the concentration of AgNPsintroduced. These findings suggested the importance of uniform dispersion of plasmonic metal nanoparticles and theirblending concentration conditions in order to boost the solar cell performance.

Mo-based thin films are frequently used as back electrode materials because of their low resistivity and high crystallinity in CIGS chalcopyrite solar cells. Mo:Na/Mo bilayer thin films with 1μm thickness were deposited on soda lime glass by varying the thickness of each layer using dc-magnetron sputtering. The effects of the Mo:Na layer on morphology and electrical property in terms of resistivity were systematically investigated. The resistivity increased from 159μΩcm to 944μΩcm; this seemed to be caused by increased surface defects and low crystallinity as the thickness of Mo:Na layer increased from 100 nm to 500 nm. The surface morphologies of the Mo thin films changed from a somewhat coarse fibrous structures to irregular and fine celled structures with increased surface cracks along the cell boundaries as the thickness of Mo:Na layer increased. Na contents varied drastically from 0.03 % to 0.52 % according to the variation of Mo:Na layer thickness. The change in Na content may be ascribed to changes in surface morphology and crystallinity of the thin films.

The effect of a sputter deposition sequence of Cu, Zn, and Sn metal layers on the properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) was systematically studied for solar cell applications. The set of Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu multi metal films was deposited on a Mo/SiO2/Si wafer using dc sputtering. CZTS films were prepared through a sulfurization process of the Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu metal layers at 500˚C in a H2S gas environment. H2S (0.1%) gas of 200 standard cubic centimeters per minute was supplied in the cold-wall sulfurization reactor. The metal film prepared by one-cycle deposition of Cu(360 nm)/Sn(400 nm)/Zn(400 nm)/Cu(440 nm) had a relatively rough surface due to a well-developed columnar structure growth. A dense and smooth metal surface was achieved for two- or three-cycle deposition of Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu, in which each metal layer thickness was decreased to 200 nm. Moreover, the three-cycle deposition sample showed the best CZTS kesterite structures after 5 hr sulfurization treatment. The two- and three-cycle Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu samples showed high-efficient photoluminescence (PL) spectra after a 3 hr sulfurization treatment, wheres the one-cycle sample yielded poor PL efficiency. The PL spectra of the three-cycle sample showed a broad peak in the range of 700-1000 nm, peaked at 870 nm (1.425 eV). This result is in good agreement with the reported bandgap energy of CZTS.

In recent years, anti-PID (Potential Induced Degradation) technologies have been studied and developed at various stages through- out the solar value chain from solar cells to systems in an effort to enhance long-term reliability of the photovoltaics (PV) system. Such technologies and applications must bring in profits economically for both manufacturers of solar cell/module and investors of PV systems, simultaneously for the development of the PV industry. In this study two selected anti-PID technologies, ES (modification of emitter structure) and ARC (modification of anti-reflective coating) were compared based on the economic features of both a cell maker with 60MW production capacity and an investor of 1MW PV power plant. As a result of this study, it is shown that ARC anti-PID technology can ensure more profits over ES technology for both the cell manufacturer and the investor of PV power plant.

In recent years, there has been developed anti-PID technologies(Potential Induced Degradation) in various levels from solar cell to module and to system to enhance of the long life reliability of photovoltaics(PV) system. Such technologies must economically ensure profits for both manufacturers of solar cells and investors of PV system simultaneously for PV industry development. This paper describes a comparison between and selection from two anti-PID technologies in the solar cell level, ES(modification of emitter structure) and ARC(modification of anti-reflective coating) based on the economic features of anti-PID solar cell production system with 60MW capacity for a solar cell maker and a 1MW PV power plant installed with PV modules using anti-PID solar cells. From the comparison between ES and ARC, it is shown that ARC anti-PID technology can make more profit for both a solar cell maker and a PV power plant investor.

This paper presents a development process of a forecast and monitoring system for a photovoltaic (PV) solar plant. PV solar system is one of sustainable resource of energy. So, Korean government encourages businessmen to build a PV solar plant. Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) system is one of encouraging policies. Most RPS businessmen use monitoring system for a PV solar plant and they need an accurate forecast of power generation for business purpose. Therefore we propose an estimating algorithm of power for a PV solar plant using weather forecast. Proposed algorithm is implemented in a forecast and monitoring system and it works better than existing estimating methods.

In this study, the influence on the surface passivation properties of crystalline silicon according to silicon wafer thickness, and the correlation with a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cell performances were investigated. The wafers passivated by p(n)-doped a-Si:H layers show poor passivation properties because of the doping elements, such as boron(B) and phosphorous(P), which result in a low minority carrier lifetime (MCLT). A decrease in open circuit voltage (Voc) was observed when the wafer thickness was thinned from 170μm to 50μm. On the other hand, wafers incorporating intrinsic (i) a-Si:H as a passivation layer showed high quality passivation of a-Si:H/c-Si. The implied Voc of the ITO/p a-Si:H/i a-Si:H/n c-Si wafer/i a-Si:H/n a-Si:H/ITO stacked layers was 0.715 V for 50μm c-Si substrate, and 0.704 V for 170μm c-Si. The Voc in the heterojunction solar cells increased with decreases in the substrate thickness. The high quality passivation property on the c-Si led to an increasing of Voc in the thinner wafer. Short circuit current decreased as the substrate became thinner because of the low optical absorption for long wavelength light. In this paper, we show that high quality passivation of c-Si plays a role in heterojunction solar cells and is important in the development of thinner wafer technology.

고분자 태양전지는 초박막, 재료의 유연성,가공성이 용이하다는 장점을 가지고 있지만, 실리콘 태양전지나 염료감응형태양전지에 비해 낮은 에너지 변환효율을 보이고 있다. 고분자태양전지의 변환효율을향상시키기 위해 유기반도체 물질의 개발, 각 층간의 계면, 활성층의 모폴로지 또는 상분리, 소자의 구조, 전극 등 다양한 분야에서 연구가 필요하다. 그 중, 본 글에서는 활성층과 음극 사이의 계면 (전자 수송층)으로 적용되는 π-conjugated 고분자전해질의 역할 및 적용된 예에 대해 기술하고자 한다.

Chalcogenide-based semiconductors, such as CuInSe2, CuGaSe2, Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS), and CdTe have attracted considerable interest as efficient materials in thin film solar cells (TFSCs). Currently, CIGS and CdTe TFSCs have demonstrated the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 11% in module production. However, commercialized CIGS and CdTe TFSCs have some limitations due to the scarcity of In, Ga, and Te and the environmental issues associated with Cd and Se. Recently, kesterite CZTS, which is one of the In- and Ga- free absorber materials, has been attracted considerable attention as a new candidate for use as an absorber material in thin film solar cells. The CZTS-based absorber material has outstanding characteristics such as band gap energy of 1.0 eV to 1.5 eV, high absorption coefficient on the order of 104cm-1, and high theoretical conversion efficiency of 32.2% in thin film solar cells. Despite these promising characteristics, research into CZTS-based thin film solar cells is still incomprehensive and related reports are quite few compared to those for CIGS thin film solar cells, which show high efficiency of over 20%. The recent development of kesterite-based CZTS thin film solar cells is summarized in this work. The new challenges for enhanced performance in CZTS thin films are examined and prospective issues are addressed as well.

The formation of high-quality polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) on relatively low cost substrate has been an important issue in the development of thin film solar cells. Poly-Si seed layers were fabricated by an inverse aluminum-induced crystallization (I-AIC) process and the properties of the resulting layer were characterized. The I-AIC process has an advantage of being able to continue the epitaxial growth without an Al layer removing process. An amorphous Si precursor layer was deposited on Corning glass substrates by RF magnetron sputtering system with Ar plasma. Then, Al thin film was deposited by thermal evaporation. An SiO2 diffusion barrier layer was formed between Si and Al layers to control the surface orientation of seed layer. The crystallinity of the poly-Si seed layer was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The grain size and orientation of the poly-Si seed layer were determined by electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) method. The prepared poly-Si seed layer showed high volume fraction of crystalline Si and<100> orientation. The diffusion barrier layer and processing temperature significantly affected the grain size and orientation of the poly Si seed layer. The shorter oxidation time and lower processing temperature led to a better orientation of the poly-Si seed layer. This study presents the formation mechanism of a poly seed layer by inverse aluminum-induced crystallization.

The a-Si:H/c-Si hetero-junction (HJ) solar cells have a variety of advantages in efficiency and fabrication processes. It has already demonstrated about 23% in R&D scale and more than 20% in commercial production. In order to further reduce the fabrication cost of HJ solar cells, fabrication processes should be simplified more than conventional methods which accompany separate processes of front and rear sides of the cells. In this study, we propose a simultaneous deposition of intrinsic thin a-Si:H layers on both sides of a wafer by dual hot wire CVD (HWVCD). In this system, wafers are located between tantalum wires, and a-Si:H layers are simultaneously deposited on both sides of the wafer. By using this scheme, we can reduce the process steps and time and improve the efficiency of HJ solar cells by removing surface contamination of the wafers. We achieved about 16% efficiency in HJ solar cells incorporating intrinsic a-Si:H buffers by dual HWCVD and p/n layers by PECVD.

This research has been studied a quality management method of silicon wafers for solar cells using the time series analysis. The model which can forecast conversion efficiency in state of a silicon wafer of a solar cell was presented newly and studied its limits. The first approach analyzed correlation between quality characteristics which was currently known and the quality of the last production. Also, The special factor which was unknown to a general factor until now was found. This paper presented the time series analytical model which was transformed in order to forecast exactly the influence that these special quality characteristics were immersed in to the conversion efficiency of cells. Using the correlation of forecasted value along the arbitrary change of measured value, the most optimized reduction factor for calculation of weight to be suitable for this model was defined.

Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) used in the antireflection layer and current spreading layer of heterojunction solar cells should have excellent optical and electrical properties. Furthermore, TCOs need a high work function over 5.2 eV to prevent the effect of emitter band-bending caused by the difference in work function between emitter and TCOs. Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) film is a highly promising material as a TCO due to its excellent optical and electrical properties. However, ITO films have a low work function of about 4.8 eV. This low work function of ITO films leads to deterioration of the conversion efficiency of solar cells. In this work, ITO films with various Zn contents of 0, 6.9, 12.7, 28.8, and 36.6 at.% were fabricated by a co-sputtering method using ITO and AZO targets at room temperature. The optical and electrical properties of Zn-doped ITO thin films were analyzed. Then, silicon heterojunction solar cells with these films were fabricated. The 12.7 at% Zn-doped ITO films show the highest hall mobility of 35.71 cm2/Vsec. With increasing Zn content over 12.7, the hall mobility decreases. Although a small addition of Zn content increased the work function, further addition of Zn content over 12.7 at.% led to decreasing electrical properties because of the decrease in the carrier concentration and hall mobility. Silicon heterojunction solar cells with 12.7 at% Zn-doped ITO thin films showed the highest conversion efficiency of 15.8%.

염료감응형 태양전지를 위한 겔 고분자 전해질막을 제조하였다. 고분자물질로는 Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)를 사용하였으며, 가소제로서 poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)을 첨가하였고, 전해질염 및 I-/I3-의 공급원으로서 KI 및 I2를 첨가하여 고분자 전해질막을 제조하였으며, 이와 같은 고분자 전해질막을 바탕으로 염료감응형 태양전지를 제조하였다. 고분자 전해질 내의 가소제로서의 PEG는 95%의 함량으로 주입되었으며, 전해질 내의 EO 1 mole 당 KI mole 수([KI]/[EO] 비)가 0.022, 0.044, 0.066 및 0.088이 되도록 KI가 주입되었다. 이러한 방식으로 제조된 겔 전해질막은 상온에서 왁스(wax) 형태를 보였다. 낮은 KI 함량의 영역에서는 KI 함량이 증가하면서 전해질막을 통한 이온전도도가 증가하였으며, [KI]/[EO]비가 0.066인 때에 이온전도도는 최대값을 보인 후 0.088로 증가하면서 이온전도도는 감소하였다. 염료감응형 태양전지에 있어서는 고분자 전해질막 내의 KI 함량이 증가하면서 VOC는 지속적으로 감소하였다. 반면, JSC의 경우 낮은 KI 함량의 범위에서는 KI 함량이 증가하면서 JSC는 증가하였으며 [KI]/[EO]비가 0.044인 때에 JSC가 최대값을 보인 후 그 이상의 높은 범위에서는 KI함량의 증가에 따라 JSC는 감소하였다.

In this study, chemical bath deposited (CBD) indium sulfide buffer layers were investigated as a possible substitution for the cadmium sulfide buffer layer in CIGS thin film solar cells. The performance of the In2S3/CIGS solar cell dramatically improved when the films were annealed at 300˚C in inert gas after the buffer layer was grown on the CIGS film. The thickness of the indium sulfide buffer layer was 80 nm, but decreased to 60 nm after annealing. From the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy it was found that the chemical composition of the layer changed to indium oxide and indium sulfide from the as-deposited indium hydroxide and sulfate states. Furthermore, the overall atomic concentration of the oxygen in the buffer layer decreased because deoxidation occurred during annealing. In addition, an In-thin layer was inserted between the indium sulfide buffer and CIGS in order to modify the In2S3/CIGS interface. The In2S3/CIGS solar cell with the In interlayer showed improved photovoltaic properties in the Jsc and FF values. Furthermore, the In2S3/CIGS solar cells showed higher quantum efficiency in the short wavelength region. However, the quantum efficiency in the long wavelength region was still poor due to the thick buffer layer.

In this study, we inserted a Zn buffer layer into a AZO/p-type a-si:H layer interface in order to lower the contact resistance of the interface. For the Zn layer, the deposition was conducted at 5 nm, 7 nm and 10 nm using the rf-magnetron sputtering method. The results were compared to that of the AZO film to discuss the possibility of the Zn layer being used as a transparent conductive oxide thin film for application in the silicon heterojunction solar cell. We used the rf-magnetron sputtering method to fabricate Al 2 wt.% of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) film as a transparent conductive oxide (TCO). We analyzed the electro-optical properties of the ZnO as well as the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer. After inserting a buffer layer into the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layers to enhance the interface properties, we measured the contact resistance of the layers using a CTLM (circular transmission line model) pattern, the depth profile of the layers using AES (auger electron spectroscopy), and the changes in the properties of the AZO thin film through heat treatment. We investigated the effects of the interface properties of the AZO/p-type a-Si:H layer on the characteristics of silicon heterojunction solar cells and the way to improve the interface properties. When depositing AZO thin film on a-Si layer, oxygen atoms are diffused from the AZO thin film towards the a-Si layer. Thus, the characteristics of the solar cells deteriorate due to the created oxide film. While a diffusion of Zn occurs toward the a-Si in the case of AZO used as TCO, the diffusion of In occurs toward a-Si in the case of ITO used as TCO.