The US DOE/NREL amorphous silicon photovoltaics program

The recent advances of the US Department of Energy (DOE)/National Renewable Energy Laboratory´s (NREL´s) amorphous silicon photovoltaics program are reviewed. Research conducted at universities, industry, and government laboratories is addressing the critical technological issues of increasing photovoltaic module reliability and improving the stabilized performance. Multijunction device structures have demonstrated higher stabilized efficiencies than those of single-junction devices. In addition, novel deposition techniques and modifications to conventional deposition techniques have produced intrinsic amorphous films with improved stability that have not been fully realized in devices. Results are given for multijunction module performance after continuous 1000 h of illumination at one-sun intensity and 50°C module temperature. These conditions are used as a predictor for stabilized performance