Sensitivity Analysis of Carrier Recombination Lifetime Measurements on Silicon Solar Cells due to Input Parameter Uncertainty

Carrier recombination lifetime measurements including effective lifetime, emitter saturation current density and bulk lifetime on silicon photovoltaic cells are essential quality metrics for sample characterization and enable power loss analyses that drive process optimization decisions. The carrier recombination lifetime of cells is derived from measured Suns-Voc data based on sample-specific inputs of substrate thickness and resistivity. This work presents a sensitivity analysis of the carrier recombination lifetime measurements on silicon photovoltaic cells due to uncertainty in input thickness and resistivity and proposes best practices to reduce these uncertainties to achieve results with a high level of confidence.