Investigation of edge recombination effects in silicon solar cell structures using photoluminescence

Abstract

Edge recombination can have a significant impact on the performance of small-area, high-efficiency silicon solar cells. Photoluminescence characterization techniques are applied to assess isolation trench techniques that are designed to remove edge recombination from such solar cells, thereby improving performance and allowing the true bulk properties of the solar cell to be evaluated independent of edge effects. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.