Accelerated Stress Testing and Diagnostic Analysis of Degradation in CdTe Solar Cells

Solar cell module reliability is inextricably linked to cell-level reliability. This is particularly so with thin-film technologies. In CdTe, reliability issues historically associate with back contact stability and the use of Cu as an extrinsic dopant. Using a simple approach by which identical cells are heated under open-circuit bias and 1-sun illumination, degradation activation energies of 0.63 and 2.94 eV in laboratory-scale CdS/CdTe devices were identified in the accelerated stress temperature range of 60 to 120 °C. At lower stress temperatures, cell performance changes were linearly correlated with changes in both fill factor (FF) and short-circuit current (Jsc). At higher stress temperatures, changes in efficiency were correlated with changes in FF and open-circuit voltage (Voc). The measured activation energy of 0.63 is associated with Cu-diffusion. During the early stage of stress testing, which may provide additional back contact annealing, improvements in FF were due to Cu-diffusion. Decreased performance observed at longer stress times (decreased FF and Voc), according to a two-diode Pspice model, were due to both increased space-charge recombination (near the junction) and decreased recombination in the bulk. Kirkendall void formation (S-outdiffusion) at the CdS/CdTe interface is given as responsible for the 2.9 eV degradation mechanism.