Ionizing radiation effects in copper indium gallium diselenide thin-film solar cells

Abstract

Cu(In,Ga)Se 2/CdS/ZnO thin-film solar cells were exposed to doses up to 5×10 8rad(Si) of 50 keV x rays. Device performance consistently showed very little degradation, implying that previously observed radiation-induced performance reductions were likely the result of displacement damage. Subsequent experiments showed that cells recovered to near beginning-of-life performance with only short anneals under 50°C. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.