Improved outdoor performance of a-Si:H photovoltaic modules fabricated using a high speed two-step deposition of absorbers

We developed high throughput, high efficiency 1.43 m2 hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) single-junction photovoltaic (PV) modules using a two-step deposition for the intrinsic a-Si:H absorber with the high deposition rate of 0.41 nm/s. The developed module using the two-step deposition method leads to higher initial maximum power (Pmax) due to the reduced recombination loss at the p/i interface, compared to the a-Si:H single-junction PV module fabricated by the conventional one-step deposition with the low deposition rate of 0.20 nm/s. In addition, the developed module exhibits moderate light-induced degradation ratio of 26.1% in an outdoor exposure test with accumulated solar irradiance >380 kWh/m2. Thus, the comparable energy output gain is confirmed via a long-term outdoor field test. Consequently, superior throughput of the developed module over the conventional module is possible with comparable stabilized performance.