Impact of Hydrogen Concentration on the Regeneration of Light Induced Degradation

The permanent deactivation called regeneration of light induced degradation in p-type Czochralski silicon solar cells is analyzed in this paper. Industrial solar cells were fabricated with varying hydrogen concentration in the silicon nitride anti-reflection layer but with an otherwise identical setup. They are subsequently degraded, annealed and regenerated by simultaneous illumination and heating. Measurements of cell parameters reveal the crucial effect of hydrogen on the regeneration.