Temperature-dependent modeling of silicon solar cells - Eg, ni, recombination, and VOC

The characterization and modeling of silicon solar cells under nonstandard conditions is an essential task in order to predict and optimize the annual yield when installed in the field. In this paper, focus is set on the temperature dependence of fundamental physical models for numerical device simulation of silicon solar cells. A wide range of industrially relevant solar cell concepts is simulated and compared to experimental data. The influence of fundamental physical models on the temperature dependence of the simulated devices is investigated. It is found that our simulations are in good agreement with experimental results for silicon solar cells that are limited by extrinsic defect or surface recombination. This is not the case for solar cells featuring carrier-selective contacts where intrinsic recombination processes, such as Auger recombination and radiative recombination, have a significant influence.