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Annihilation of LETID effect in mono and multicrystalline boron doped silicon solar cells by illumination

A. MOHAMMED KRARROUBI1,2,* , D. BOUHAFS1, I. Y. ZENTAR3, R. SI-KADDOUR1, H. AMROUCH1

Affiliation

  1. Research Center in Semiconductor Technology for the Energetic (CRTSE), 16048, Algiers, Algeria
  2. Unité de Recherche en Energie Renouvelables en Milieu Saharien URERMS, Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables, CDER, 01000, Adrar, Algeria
  3. Coating Materials and Environment Laboratory, University of M’hamed Bougara Boumerdes 35000, (UMMB), Algeria

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of Light andElevated Temperature Induced Degradation (LETID) and the subsequent regeneration on the electrical performance of silicon solar cells. The research focused on boron-doped Czochralski silicon (Cz-Si) with a TiO2 coating and multicrystalline silicon (Mc-Si) with a SiNx: H antireflection coating (ARC) layer.The regeneration process entailed illuminating the cells at temperatures 130 °C and 190 °C for a duration of 30 min; followed by exposure to degradation conditions at 75 °C. Following a 28 hours of light exposure, the initial batch of cells underwent complete degradation, while the second batch, subjected to regeneration at 130 °C, demonstrated degradation after 48 hours. It was observed that Mc-Si-based cells were more prone to LETID, with a 6% efficiency reduction, compared to a 4% decrease in Cz-Si cells. During the regeneration phase at 190 °C, a 0.8% and 2.5% decrease in electrical performance was observed in Cz-Si and Mc-Si cells, respectively. However, at 130 °C, a 1.6% increase in efficiency was observed, indicating performance regeneration. These results establish that the regeneration protocol diminishes the formation of the BO defect and alleviates degradation caused by metallic contaminants like iron. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the degradation in Mc-Si solar cells is associated with the infiltration of hydrogen into the bulk silicon from the SiNx:H layer.

Keywords

LETID, Boron-Oxygen Defects, Hydrogen, Regeneration.

Citation

A. MOHAMMED KRARROUBI, D. BOUHAFS, I. Y. ZENTAR, R. SI-KADDOUR, H. AMROUCH, Annihilation of LETID effect in mono and multicrystalline boron doped silicon solar cells by illumination, Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials - Rapid Communications, 19, 5-6, May-June 2025, pp.263-268 (2025).

Submitted at: Oct. 22, 2024

Accepted at: June 3, 2025