Characterization of Solar Cells:

Measurements under illumination

Juan Esteban Villegas Delgado*
Department of Microsystems Engineering, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 24224,
Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE
*
jvillegasdelgado@masdar.ac.ae

Abstract: The goal of the solar cell is to transform the sun radiated
energy into electrical power, thus measuring its performance while
under radiation is crucial to understand the cell’s efficiency. In this
report, we discuss the process of characterizing solar cells under
radiation, i.e. quantum efficiency measurements and IV curve plotting.
Influence of different process parameters such as area and temperature
are discussed herein.
©2017, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology

References and links

1 Villegas, J.E.: ‘Simulation of a single junction solar cell using Sentaurus TCAD Workbench’, MIC624
Class Report, 2017, pp. 7
2 Green, M.A., Emery, K., Hishikawa, Y., Warta, W., and Dunlop, E.D.: ‘Solar cell efficiency tables
(version 48)’, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 2016, 24, (7), pp. 905-913
3 Nelson, J.: ‘The Physics of Solar Cells’ (World Scientific Publishing Co Inc, 2003. 2003)
4 Villegas, J.E.: ‘Characterization of Solar Cells: Dark current measurements’, MIC624 Class report, 2017
5 http://pvcdrom.pveducation.org/CELLOPER/TEMP.HTM, accessed 26th april 2017

1. Introduction
Once the diode behavior of the cell’s junctions has been characterized, the next step is to
measure the cell performance under radiation. This set of measurements will allow us to
quantify different cell parameters and significantly will give us a measurement of the
capacity of the cell to transform solar radiation into electrical power, its efficiency. The
total efficiency of a cell is the base parameter once it reaches the world market of solar
power, nonetheless the IV performance will give as well the input information to scale up
the cells into solar panels and at last solar arrays.
The illuminated junction of our PIN cell creates electron hole pairs in all three regions,
these carriers are swept across the junctions through the electric field created in the
interface of each region and are ultimately collected in the fore and rear contacts. This
report will inquire on the quantification of this apparently simple process.

2. Quantum efficiency
The measurement of quantum efficiency is performed by injecting known densities of light
(photon flux) at different wavelengths and measuring the amount of which are absorbed
and collected in the cells contacts as carriers. Note that the total photon flux does not reach
the semiconductor junction as light gets reflected by the cell, and furthermore the number
of carriers collected is lower than those absorbed as some generated carriers recombine
before reaching the contacts, consequently it is important to differentiate internal and
external quantum efficiency to discriminate the different phenomena that govern our cell
performance.
 For the measurement, a QEX7 system is used. Two different measurements are carried,
Reflectance and Quantum Efficiency. Measuring the reflectance of the cell is important as
it give us information on the amount of light that reaches the junction, and this is
independent from the solid-state characteristics of our cell and both are tackled under
completely different ways.

2.1. Measurements
As the light reaches our cell, it gets partially reflected mainly due to the difference in index
of refraction of the two propagating media but also because of the scattering of light in the
surface of the cell. As light propagates through our cell, it will get reflected at every
interface of two different materials, and ultimately we will have a total reflection as the
partial contributions of each layer. The amount of light reflected can be calculated using
Fresnel’s law and the optical analysis of the cell, therefore form the optical reflectance
measurements some material parameters can be determined as well.
The reflectance effect on the cell quantum efficiency (QE) is noticeable in Figure 1,
we can notice that the cells internal quantum efficiency is higher, nevertheless as light is
partially reflected from the cell the efficiency is in overall lowered. A region with low
reflections is tailored with the anti-reflective coating between 550 and 800 nm, in this
region the external QE matches the internal one as most of the photon flux reaches the
solar cell’s active layers. Note that the overall low IQE of the cell, with a maximum at
38% let us disguise the low performance of the cell, probably due high recombination.

60.0%

R
50.0%
IQE
EQE
QE / Reflectance

40.0%

30.0%

20.0%

10.0%

0.0%
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Wavelength (nm)

Figure 1. QE and reflectance measurements

Using the information of the quantum efficiency of the cell, and ,as reported in [1] and
homework 1, can be calculated using the standardized AM1.5 solar spectrum, which
quantifies the actual photon flux of solar radiation. 𝐽𝑠𝑐 can be computed as

𝐽𝑠𝑐 = ∫ 𝑄𝐸(𝜆) ∗ 𝐻(𝜆) 𝑑𝜆

Where 𝐻(𝜆) is the spectral solar irradiance. Using this expression, and comparing to the
perfect scenario in which all photons with energy above the bandgap of the material are
absorbed and collected as carriers in the cell, we get the values in for the short circuit
current density (calculated compared to IQE and EQE spectrum).
 IQE case EQE case Perfect
4.24 mA/cm2 3.79 mA/cm2 22.88 mA/cm2

Table 1. 1 cm2 cell Jsc measurement using QE

The current density in the real case and using the EQE corresponds to 16.55% of the
perfect scenario. The value computed is comparable to that measured in the JV analysis
below, of 3.88 mA/cm2.

2.2. Bias influence on QE

Changing the voltage bias on the cell will modify the width of the depletion region and
therefore change the number of minority carriers than can diffuse across the junctions. A
reversed biased junction would have wider depletion region and this means less generated
carriers will diffuse across the junction. Therefore, once the dark minority carriers
diffusion current is quantified, the QE measurement with bias will give us information on
the recombination of generated carriers within the depletion region. Figure 2 plots the
quantum efficiency under different bias conditions.

40.00%
35.00% 0 bias
30.00% +1.00V
25.00% -1.00V
20.00%
EQE

15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
-5.00% 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
wavelength (nm)

Figure 2. Voltage Bias effect on QE response

3. JV measurements
To characterize its IV response, the cell is illuminated with light having a total power and
a spectral distribution of intensity equivalent to that of the sun under AM1.5 conditions
and its current is measured under a varying voltage bias. The measurements are performed
in a SOL3A 94123A solar simulator, a class AAA simulator that has a manufactures
specification high precision in terms of spectral response, light intensity and uniformity.
Characterizing the cells under standardized and controlled conditions is essential as it
serves as the baseline to guide research around the world on solar. A noteworthy example
of such benchmarking is Dr. M.A. Green’s publications on solar cell efficiencies [2].

3.1. Series and shunt resistance

The schematic in Figure 3 [3] depicts the equivalent circuit of the diode model of the
solar cell. The IV plot under illumination at AM1.5 will allow us to have the precise value
of the equivalent circuit resistances under standard illumination.
 Figure 3. Solar cell diode equivalent circuit

The series resistance can be estimated as the inverse of the slope of the IV curve while
approaching the short circuit (0 voltage bias), and the shunt resistance, in the region close
to the open circuit status (0 current). The shunt resistance refers to currents that are lost as
feedback inside the diode itself while the series resistance represents the zone where
currents will be limited by the mobility of carriers in the junction.
The “ultimate solar cell” would have an infinite shunt resistance and a null series
resistance, therefore a measure of how far real values from these utopic ones gives
insights on the electrical performance of the cell. Figure 4 and Figure 5plot the JV curves
of cell both through temperature and size variation, note that the two different regions
are easily identifiable and from them the following resistances are calculated:
4.50E-03
15.0 C
4.00E-03 25.0 C
Current density (A/cm2)

3.50E-03 35.0 C
3.00E-03
2.50E-03
2.00E-03
1.50E-03
1.00E-03
5.00E-04
0.00E+00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Voltage (V)

Figure 5 Cell JV curves with changes in temperature

Although a lowering in the 𝑉𝑜𝑐 at a higher rate than the increase of 𝐽𝑠𝑐 suggest a lower
efficiency of the cell, small increases of temperature will convey into a better performing
cell as can be seen in Figure 6 and Table 4. As presented in 3.1, the series resistance
increases slightly with temperature and the shunt resistance has a small drop, this
ultimately impacts the maximum power that can be extracted from the cell about 40
uW/cm2 for a change in temperature of 20 C. A larger change in temperature would
nevertheless have a drop in the cells power outlet as 𝑉𝑜𝑐 continuous dropping.
 2500 ohm 50.0%

49.5%
2000 ohm

49.0%
1500 ohm

Fill Factor
Resistance
48.5%
Rshunt
1000 ohm
Rseries 48.0%
FF
500 ohm
47.5%

0 ohm 47.0%
15.0 C 20.0 C 25.0 C 30.0 C 35.0 C
Temperature

Figure 6 Cell parameters with varying temperature

Temp 25.0 C 25.0 C 15.0 C 25.0 C 35.0 C

Area 1.00 cm2 0.250 cm2 0.063 cm2 0.063 cm2 0.063 cm2
Rshunt 1215 Ω/ cm2 2211 Ω/ cm2 2276 Ω/ cm2 2358 Ω/ cm2 2370 Ω/ cm2
Rseries 97.7 Ω/ cm2 93.3 Ω/ cm2 88.3 Ω/ cm2 86.1 Ω/ cm2 84.5 Ω/ cm2

Table 2 Series and

3.2. Fill factor

The fill factor (FF) is the relation between the maximum power at the maximum power
point and the value of the product between Voc and Jsc. It gives a measure of the shape of
the IV curve, and in general a solar cell with a low dark current, a high EQE and a high
collection ratio will be one with a higher fill factor. It can be calculated as (taken from [3])
𝑉𝑚 𝐼𝑚
𝐹𝐹 =
𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝐼𝑆𝐶
In this equation, 𝑉𝑚 𝐼𝑚 is the maximum power of the cell.

Area 1.00 cm2 0.250 cm2 0.063 cm2

Calculated FF 43.22% 48.27% 48.61%
System FF 43.22% 48.28% 48.60%
Table 3

Note that the low error in the numerical calculations of FF compared to the parameters
given by the measurement equipment is expected as the system process to calculate the FF
is analogous to the one we use in our calculations (finding the maximum power point along
the JV curve).

3.3. Area effects

As discussed in previous the report [4], as the solar cell is scaled down, small defects will
affect a larger portion of the total current and therefore have a negative effect on the cell
performance, additionally smaller cells the total front contact shadow will impact reduce
the final current density (as less photons reach the active layers of the cell).
 4.50E-03
4.00E-03 1.00 cm2
3.50E-03 0.250 cm2

Current density (A/cm2)

3.00E-03 0.063 cm2
2.50E-03
2.00E-03
1.50E-03
1.00E-03
5.00E-04
0.00E+00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Voltage (V)

Figure 4

As expected the reduction of the area decreases the cell performance when the cell changes
from 0.25 cm2 to 0.0625 cm2. The same trend is however not visible in the 1 cm2, but this
is likely due to the different layout of the front contact as discussed in [4].

3.4. Temperature effect on solar cells

The open circuit voltage, as described by the equation below [3], seems to have a
proportional dependency on the temperature, this however is not consistent with the plot
in the Figure 5, specially taking into account that 𝐽𝑠𝑐 increases only slightly (about 0.06%
per Kelvin).
𝑚𝑘𝑏 𝑇 𝐽𝑠𝑐
𝑉𝑜𝑐 = ln ( − 1)
𝑞 𝐽𝑚,0
However, as we look deeper into the equation, we must acknowledge that the 𝐽0 term is
related to the diffusion of minority carriers across the junction, therefore it will have itself
a dependency on the intrinsic properties of the material. In general, 𝐽𝑚,0 can be expressed
by its diffusion governed expression given by
𝐷𝑛 𝐷𝑝
𝐽0 = 𝑞𝑛𝑖2 ( − )
𝐿𝑛 𝑁𝑎 𝑁𝑑 𝐿𝑝
The intrinsic carrier concentration, 𝑛𝑖 in this expression, is itself temperature dependent,
and experiences a cubic increase with temperature, as more carriers get sufficient energy
from to create electron hole pairs. The carrier concentration can be described as [5]
2𝜋𝑘 3 3 𝐸𝐺0
𝑛𝑖2 = 4 ∗ ( 2 ) ∙ 𝑇 3 ∙ (𝑚𝑒∗ 𝑚ℎ∗ )2 ∙ 𝑒 − 𝑘𝑇
ℎ
Replacing on the equation for 𝐽0 and that into the equation for the open circuit voltage we
get that
𝑚𝑘𝑏 𝑇 𝑞𝑉𝐺𝑜
𝑉𝑜𝑐 = (ln(𝐽𝑠𝑐 ) − ln(𝐵′ ) − 𝛾 ln(𝑇) + )
𝑞 𝑘𝑇
Where 𝐵′ is a temperature independent term, 𝑉𝐺𝑜 is the estimated bandgap at zero Kelvin,
𝑚 is the ideality factor of the diode and 𝛾 is a term close to three (due to the cubic
dependency of the intrinisc carrier concentration shown in the previous formula) that may
vary per the material parameters. Note that the temperature dependency of 𝑉𝑜𝑐 is not
readily identifiable, but the equation can be expressed in terms of the rate of change of 𝑉𝑜𝑐
𝑑𝐽𝑠𝑐
to temperature as (and taking as neglectable)
𝑑𝑇
 𝑑𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝑉𝐺0 − 𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝛾𝑘𝑏
= 𝑚( − )
𝑑𝑇 𝑇 𝑞
For silicon and at 300K this rate is about
𝑑𝑉𝑜𝑐 𝑚𝑉
≈ −2.2
𝑑𝑇 𝐾
The variation of the open circuit voltage as shown in Table 4 is slightly lower than the -
2.2mV/K rate given [5], but this is expected as the 𝛾 factor varies from 3 and the ideality
factor m of the diode is not considered for this approximation.

Temp 15.0 C 25.0 C 35.0 C

Voc 0.8765 V 0.8572 V 0.8419 V
Jsc 3.88 mA/cm2 3.92 mA/cm2 3.97 mA/cm2
PMax 1.62E-03 mW/cm2 1.64E-03 mW/cm2 1.66E-03 mW/cm2

Table 4

The variation of the 𝐽𝑠𝑐 with temperature is associated to the fact that as temperature
increases the atoms increases their avarage distance between them as they gain kinetic
energy (i.e. an increase in its lattice constat). A macroscopic effect of this phenomena is
the thermal expansion of the material, but in the nanoscale, the effect is that electrons in
in the bond will have a higher energy and therefore need less energy to break their bond,
this effect will be quantified as a small reduction on the bandgap. The temperature induced
bangap lowering means that photons with a lower energy in the solar spectrum can now
be absorbed in the solar cell and therefore the cell’s current will accordingly increase.

4.50E-03
15.0 C
4.00E-03 25.0 C
Current density (A/cm2)

3.50E-03 35.0 C
3.00E-03
2.50E-03
2.00E-03
1.50E-03
1.00E-03
5.00E-04
0.00E+00
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Voltage (V)

Figure 5 Cell JV curves with changes in temperature

Although a lowering in the 𝑉𝑜𝑐 at a higher rate than the increase of 𝐽𝑠𝑐 suggest a lower
efficiency of the cell, small increases of temperature will convey into a better performing
cell as can be seen in Figure 6 and Table 4. As presented in 3.1, the series resistance
increases slightly with temperature and the shunt resistance has a small drop, this
ultimately impacts the maximum power that can be extracted from the cell about 40
uW/cm2 for a change in temperature of 20 C. A larger change in temperature would
nevertheless have a drop in the cells power outlet as 𝑉𝑜𝑐 continuous dropping.
 2500 ohm 50.0%

49.5%
2000 ohm

49.0%
1500 ohm

Fill Factor
Resistance
48.5%
Rshunt
1000 ohm
Rseries 48.0%
FF
500 ohm
47.5%

0 ohm 47.0%
15.0 C 20.0 C 25.0 C 30.0 C 35.0 C
Temperature

Figure 6 Cell parameters with varying temperature

4. Conclusion
We demonstrated the importance of the characterization under illumination for Solar Cells.
Both intrinsic material parameters and external optical properties need to be measured and
well understood to make sure that designs and fabrication techniques are correctly dimmed
towards the improvement of the solar cell. The overall efficiency of the PIN solar cell was
shown to be 16.55% of the theoretical maximum that could be reached with a 100%
absorbing material with bandgap 1.7eV, and in general, when measured as the total output
current (collected carriers) of the cell, it shows an efficiency of
𝜂 = 5.5%