Determination of the interfacial dynamic velocity in silicon solar cells

A detailed theoretical method is presented for the determination of the int erfacial dynamic velocity (IDV) S-d introduced at the edge of the space-cha rge region in the base of a solar cell. The method is based on a dynamic me asurement at an arbitrary point on the I-V curve and exploits measurements carried out on a solar cell under illumination. A transient regime between two steady states around the operating point is investigated. The theory ta kes into account the carrier generation and recombination rates. The measur ed values of S-d are shown to depend on the cell operating conditions, and the error in the determination of S-d increases with the light intensity th at is kept constant during measurements. The interfacial dynamic velocity c haracterizes the junction as an active interface related to the current flo w through the device and appears to allow solar cell quality control since it also depends on the cell structure parameters. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.