Thermal and electrical investigation of the reverse bias degradation of silicon solar cells

This work presents a detailed analysis of the degradation of Si-based solar cells submitted to reverse-bias stress; the study is based on electrical, electro-optical and thermal measurements, carried out at the different stages of the stress tests. The results show that exposure to reverse bias may induce severe modifications of the cell electro-optical performance: the most relevant failure mechanism is the increase in localized shunt resistance components. The changes in the leakage paths have been investigated both through infrared thermal imaging and SEM measurements. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.