Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) for Photovoltaic Materials: Possibilities and Challenges

Abstract

Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) is a noninvasive material characterization technique which provides the frequency response of the electrical impedance of materials under test as the signature of the material properties. EIS injects constant amplitude AC electrical currents and measures the developed potentials at different frequency points to calculate the complex electrical impedance. In EIS, the electrical impedance profile of a material is correlated with its structure and composition for material testing either online or offline. EIS is found as a fast, portable, user-friendly, and noninvasive technique and hence, it has been utilized for material characterization in a number of engineering fields and applied science areas. In the past few decades, EIS has also been used to characterize the photovoltaic materials. This paper reviews the possibilities and challenges of EIS technique applied for the characterization of the photovoltaic materials. The paper presents a brief discussion about the EIS technology, applications of EIS on PV materials along with the advantages and limitations of the technology. The paper concludes with the highlight of the recent trends of EIS based PV material characterization process mentioning the challenges of the technique.