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A simple technique for determination of the diffusion length in a solar cell

P. IVANOV1,* , P. VITANOV1, G. POPKIROV1, P. K. SINGH2

Affiliation

  1. Central Laboratory for Solar Energy and New Energy Sources, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tzarigradsko Chaussee Blvd., 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria
  2. Electronic Materials Division, National Physical Laboratory, Hillside Road, New Delhi-110012, India

Abstract

The surface photovoltage (SPV) effect is widely used for the determination of the minority carrier diffusion length in semiconductors, particularly in solar cells. We have developed a technique based on SPV measurements using a number of calibrated light emitting diodes as monochromatic sources of different wavelengths (λ). The open circuit photovoltage as function of λ was measured at a constant photon flux. The measurements were carried out on mono- and multi-crystalline silicon solar cells. Goodman’s model was used to interpret the data and, values of minority carrier diffusion length were deduced. The effect of the injection level and temperature on the minority carrier diffusion length has also been studied..

Keywords

Solar cell, Surface photovoltage, Diffusion length, Lifetime.

Submitted at: Nov. 1, 2006
Accepted at: Feb. 15, 2007

Citation

P. IVANOV, P. VITANOV, G. POPKIROV, P. K. SINGH, A simple technique for determination of the diffusion length in a solar cell, Journal of Optoelectronics and Advanced Materials Vol. 9, Iss. 2, pp. 367-370 (2007)