Temperature dependence of amorphous silicon solar cell PV parameters

The temperature behavior of amorphous silicon (a-Si) based solar cells was measured for cells made under different fabrication conditions and with different thermal and illumination histories. Amorphous silicon solar cells exhibit a complex temperature behavior that depends on processing history and cannot be characterized by a unique temperature coefficient as in the case of crystalline silicon solar cells. In general, a-Si solar cells exhibit relatively little temperature dependence once they are operating in an equilibrated state, but they will exhibit a relatively strong temperature dependence over short periods of time. Both the short-term temperature dependence and the stabilized output power depend on several factors such as the device configuration, the defect concentration in the i-layer, the thickness of the i-layer and the light soaking temperature