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2008
Conference Paper
Titel
Investigations on the pre-breakdown of multicrystalline silicon solar cells
Abstract
The voltage characteristics of the pre-breakdown behavior of industrial multicrystalline silicon solar cells is investigated via dark lock-in thermography (DLIT) and electroluminescence (EL) measurements which yield information about the spatial distribution of the reverse currents and thus of the heat generation. We observe three almost discrete stages of pre-breakdown which can be correlated with surface effects, recombination active regions and regions without significant carrier lifetime reduction, respectively. Our measurements show that in breakdown, the largest currents flow through regions that are not recombination active.