The effect of particle photon radiation on solar cells

The degradation of n+/p solar cells manufactured from 10 ohm cm aluminum or boron doped silicon produced by the Czrochalski or floating zone process was studied. Results show that the influence of the dopant and silicon lingot fabrication process on the base region minority carrier lifetime increases in the case of electrons of rather low energy (1 MeV). It is also shown that prolonged photon irradiation, following exposure to particulate radiation, tends to affect the degradation of a solar cell. Photon irradiation acts simultaneously in two ways: it lowers the defect density by eliminating certain defects and it increases the density by creating new defects.