Prediction of Local Temperature Dependent Performance of Silicon Solar Cells

In this study, we present a method to predict the local temperature dependent performance of silicon solar cells from wafer lifetime images which enables local investigation of silicon solar cell parameters under realistic operation conditions. The multicrystalline silicon wafers investigated underwent high temperature steps equivalent to emitter diffusion and contact firing for the production of a PERC solar cell. Injection and temperature dependent lifetime images, gathered by calibrated photoluminescence imaging, are combined with numerical cell device simulations using Quokka3. Hereby, the spatially resolved open-circuit voltage VOC, short-circuit current density jSC, fill factor FF and the efficiency of a virtual solar cell based on the characterized material are predicted for various temperatures. This data is used to compute temperature coefficients of the aforementioned cell parameters. Our predictions are validated by a comparison with measurement results of cells made from sister wafers, which are analyzed globally and spatially resolved via PL imaging, Lock-in Thermography and Light-Beam-Induced-Current measurements.