Analysis of the Ideality Factor of a-Si:H Solar Cells

Abstract

This paper analyzes the ideality factor of amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) solar cells as a function of both the thickness of the intrinsic layer and the applied voltage to the cells. The ideality factor in this work is extracted from the current/voltage characteristic that is calculated by solving the continuity and transport equations and taking into account the contributions of diffusion and drift currents for minority and majority carriers and, especially, the nonequality of mobilities and lifetimes of electrons and holes in a-Si:H solar cells.