Print Email Facebook Twitter Degradation of CIGS solar cells Title Degradation of CIGS solar cells Author Theelen, M.J. Contributor Zeman, M. (promotor) Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science Department PhotoVoltaic Devices and Materials Date 2015-10-02 Abstract Thin film CIGS solar cells and individual layers within these solar cells have been tested in order to assess their long term stability. Alongside with the execution of standard tests, in which elevated temperatures and humidity levels are used, the solar cells have also been exposed to a combination of elevated temperature and humidity and illumination, which also allowed in-situ analysis of the changes in the electrical parameters. Additionally, the samples have been tested in the presence of water and various atmospheric species, like CO2, nitrogen and oxygen, in order to assess the impact of these species. Based on these experiments, it was concluded that CIGS solar cells can rapidly lose efficiency due to the migration of sodium, which occurs when exposed to illumination and water vapor. It was also observed that the transparent top electrode, consisting of ZnO:Al degraded rapidly in the presence of a combination of water and CO2, while it is stable in the presence of water combined with e.g. N2 and O2. The thesis also contains an extensive literature study on the stability of CIGS solar cells and a study on the temperature dependency of these solar cells. Subject CIGSsolar cellmolybdenumzinc oxidestabilityreliabilitylifetimein-situ testingilluminationdamp heatZnO:AlCO2temperature dependency To reference this document use: https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:2ce88658-a4c3-459f-afdc-00a5ac2c4ac4 Embargo date 2015-09-05 ISBN 978-94-6259-348-0 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type doctoral thesis Rights (c) 2015 Theelen, M.J. Files PDF M-theelen-.pdf 172.27 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:2ce88658-a4c3-459f-afdc-00a5ac2c4ac4/datastream/OBJ/view