SOLARX · Riddle of light induced degradation in silicon photovoltaics

The sun provides enough energy in one minute to supply the world's energy needs for one year. The grand challenge is to turn this enormous energy potential into electricity in a cost-efficient way. So far, silicon has been most successful at this – but we are still very far away from what is achievable. One of the major problems, which is currently limiting the state-of-the-art photovoltaic solar cells, is related to the material degradation under sun light. I address this issue from a novel perspective: I study the possibility that the root cause for the degradation is related to the interaction of light with copper ions.The cornerstone of the proposal is to transfer my special knowhow from microelectronics to photovoltaics related to controlling copper behaviour in silicon. My proposal is against the commonly accepted theory, however, it could unveil many mysteries related to the degradation phenomenon. Moreover, if successful, the approach could lead to a rather simple solution in avoiding power loss: implementing charge on the surface to attract the copper ions. In this project I aim at verifying my hypotheses, formulating a new theory regarding the chemical reactions behind the degradation and finally demonstrating a method that allows fabrication of stable yet cheap silicon solar cells having potential for more than 30% power increase.