Progress in silicon solar cell characterization with infrared imaging methods

This paper reviews the latest results in application and development of infrared imaging methods for fast and spatially resolved silicon solar cell characterization. Infrared imaging methods comprise electroluminescence (EL) imaging, photoluminescence (PL) imaging, and lock-in thermography (LIT). We report on new insights into the nature of local series resistances and important observations on local junction breakdown in industrial multicrystalline silicon solar cells. Significant improvements have been achieved in the applicability of infrared imaging methods for in-line application in silicon solar cell production. It was demonstrated that quantitative values for local reverse currents in hot-spots can be easily obtained in 10 milliseconds. Quantitative series resistance images were obtained in 800 milliseconds with a good potential to reduce the measurement time to below 500 milliseconds.