Impact of Light- and Elevated Temperature-Induced Degradation on PERC Solar Cells

Abstract

Light-induced degradation (LID) is a major concern in solar cells as it can significantly affect the long-term stability, and this issue has been highly observed in modules of silicon substrates doped with boron during the Czochralski (Cz) process. In addition to LID, major performance degradation has been observed at elevated temperature conditions in case of Cz silicon solar cells as well as mass produced multi-crystalline PERC solar cells which use dielectrically passivated surfaces. Increasing the efficiency of solar cells has proved to be a challenging task, and hence further reduction in degradation should be controlled and mitigated for better performance of cells. This review paper helps to understand several causes behind LeTID like excess carrier concentration, temperature and its effects on PERC solar cells. Few possible mitigation techniques like fast firing and laser annealing which are practiced by Tier 1 Module manufacturers are discussed at the end.