Important issues in scaling small area solar cells to large-area modules will be addressed. Light-Beam-Induced Current (LBIC) techniques in principle are reciprocal to electroluminescence (EL) based approaches when measured at a cell level in the absence of defects. The reciprocity relation does not hold well in the presence of defects. However, in all real cells and modules the combination of EL and LBIC can be expected to provide a complete scenario. This approach can be customized to carry out tasks like defect detection, quantum efficiency mapping, linearity mapping, recombination mapping, response time maps and many more. With the advancements in optomechanics and low-noise high-speed amplifiers, LBIC can now be performed within a reasonable duration and is a viable option in the manufacturing assembly line. Additionally, spectrally resolved LBIC method can be exploited to characterize light in-coupling issues like encapsulation degradation (browning, yellowing, and transmission loss), and antireflective coating losses. In general, LBIC contrast features reveal variation in shunt resistance whereas EL variations represent series resistance related inhomogeneities. It is envisaged that the combination of LBIC and EL methods can be put to effective use for analyzing high-efficiency tandem structures and bifacial panels.
Brief Bio:Prof. K. S. Narayan, FNA FASc FNASc, is Professor and the Sir J. C. Bose National Fellow at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore. He is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at IIT Bombay.
Prof. Narayan has been active in the general field of molecular/organic/polymer/bio electronics. His laboratory has extensively studied polymer solar cells, polymer light emitting diodes, optical-field effect transistors, FETs, and detectors. His other current pursuits include developing noise measurement and scanning techniques to predict the full life cycle of photovoltaic modules. Arising out of this work, he is a co-founder of a startup company, hbaromega (ℏω).
Prof. Narayan is an alumnus of IIT Bombay.