Open-circuit voltage analysis of p—i—n type amorphous silicon solar cells deposited at low temperature

This paper identifies the contributions of p—a—SiC:H layers and i—a—Si:H layers to the open circuit voltage of p—i—n type a—Si:H solar cells deposited at a low temperature of 125 °C. We find that poor quality p—a—SiC:H films under regular conditions lead to a restriction of open circuit voltage although the band gap of the i-layer varies widely. A significant improvement in open circuit voltage has been obtained by using high quality p—a—SiC:H films optimized at the "low-power regime" under low silane flow rates and high hydrogen dilution conditions.