Effective minority carrier lifetime as an indicator for potential-induced degradation in p-type single-crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules

Abstract In this paper, we report the effective minority carrier lifetime ( τ eff ) in fresh and potential-induced degradation (PID) acceleration tested p-type single-crystalline Si modules. τ eff in different regions of solar cells was measured using the microwave photoconductance decay ( μ PCD) method. Electroluminescence (EL), lock-in-thermography, and dark and light current–voltage ( I – V ) measurements were carried out as a complementary analysis of μ PCD. In addition, τ eff in every stage of Si solar cell fabrication (wafer to solar cell) was measured to investigate the change of carrier dynamics. From the obtained results, a great decrease in τ eff was observed in the PID-affected regions, confirming the excess non-radiative recombination centers in that region, suggesting that τ eff from the μ -PCD method can be an effective indicator to judge whether PID phenomenon has occurred.