Open Access Publication of the Month – Kai Zhang (IMD-3) et al.
6 May 2025
To encourage us all to broaden our horizons, each month the Central Library selects one open access publication from the JuSER publications portal to be featured in the newsletter of Forschungszentrum Jülich.
In this month’s open access publication, Kai Zhang (IMD-3) et al. write about the stability and degradation mechanism of encapsulated silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells with lightweight configurations where the cells are based on three different types of transparent conductive oxide (TCO).
Lightweight photovoltaic applications are essential for diversifying the solar energy supply. To ensure the high efficiency and stability of the solar modules, several challenges need to be overcome. Degradation due to elevated temperatures and/or humidity is a critical concern for SHJ solar modules. Here, the authors investigated the stability and degradation mechanism of encapsulated cells with lightweight configurations where the cells are based on three different types of TCO: indium tin oxide (ITO), aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO), and a combination of ITO/AZO/ITO under humid and thermal environmental conditions. The results show that the AZO module is the most susceptible to damp heat degradation due to moisture ingress and interfacial delamination. In particular, after capping the AZO film with an ITO film, the efficiency loss of the ITO/AZO/ITO module was significantly reduced. This suggests that the ITO film could be a promising protective capping layer for AZO-based solar cells.
This study focused on a very specific type of lightweight module. The results of this study can provide valuable reference information for the development of AZO-based lightweight SHJ solar modules with good damp heat stability.
The open access publication entitled “Damp‐Heat–Induced Degradation of Lightweight Silicon Heterojunction Solar Modules With Different Transparent Conductive Oxide Layers” was published in the journal Progress in Photovoltaics.
JuSER publications portal – Damp‐Heat–Induced Degradation of Lightweight Silicon Heterojunction Solar Modules With Different Transparent Conductive Oxide Layers
Forschungszentrum Jülich – Central Library (ZB) – Open Access
Forschungszentrum Jülich – Institute of Energy Materials and Devices (IMD) – Photovoltaics (IMD-3)
Forschungszentrum Jülich – Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (IET-2)