Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol.124, 138-142, 2014
Improved outdoor performance of a-Si:H photovoltaic modules fabricated using a high speed two-step deposition of absorbers
We developed high throughput, high efficiency 1.43 m(2) hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) single-junction photovoltaic (PV) modules using a two-step deposition for the intrinsic a-Si:H absorber with the high deposition rate of 0.41 nm/s. The developed module using the two-step deposition method leads to higher initial maximum power (Pmax) due to the reduced recombination loss at the p/i interface, compared to the a-Si:H single-junction PV module fabricated by the conventional one-step deposition with the low deposition rate of 0.20 nm/s. In addition, the developed module exhibits moderate light-induced degradation ratio of 26.1% in an outdoor exposure test with accumulated solar irradiance > 380 kWh/m(2). Thus, the comparable energy output gain is confirmed via a long-term outdoor field test. Consequently, superior throughput of the developed module over the conventional module is possible with comparable stabilized performance. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:a-Si:H photovoltaic module;Two-step deposition;Silane concentration;Throughput;Outdoor exposure;Field test