Numerical evaluation of amorphous silicon p-i-n solar cell degradation

Abstract
Through numerical simulation of several hypotheses concerning the degradation of hydrogenated amorphous silicon pin solar cells under illumination, we have established a set of ‘‘degradation rules.’’ Comparing the measured white‐light characteristic as a function of intensity, the internal collection efficiency as a function of wavelength, and the i‐layer thickness dependence of the conversion efficiency with these rules allows one to distinguish between the degradation of the i layer, the buffer layer, and the buffer/i‐interface layer.