An ‘hybrid’ degradation setup, in which humidity, temperature and illumination are used in order to accelerate degradation of CIGS, has been developed. This setup consists of a climate chamber, which can vary the temperature and humidity. Furthermore, an area of 80x80 cm² is illuminated, which allows both the study of light induced behvaior and the in-situ measurement of the IV curve of the cell during the test, so the degradation behavior can be observed in time. The IV output is automatically logged and characteristic parameters like efficiency, currents, voltages, ideality factor and resistance can be extracted. The 40x40 cm² in the center of the illuminated area was calibrated BAA according to IEC norm 60904-9. Twelve cells or minimodules can be degraded and measured in-situ at the same time. The continuous in-situ IV measurements allowed us to do various studies, including the determination of the temperature dependency and of the impact of light and dark exposure on the performance of CIGS solar cells. Furthermore, the impact of different Na and K concentrations in the CIGS absorber layer on the ininial as well as long term performance of CIGS solar cells was studied.

Date Published: 8 October 2014
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 9179, Reliability of Photovoltaic Cells, Modules, Components, and Systems VII, 91790I (8 October 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2059951

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9179:
Reliability of Photovoltaic Cells, Modules, Components, and Systems VII
Neelkanth G. Dhere, Editor(s)