Effects in Performance Characteristics of Monoscrystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells Exposed to Cryogenic Temperatures

With a global demand for an efficient, renewable energy source, researching the improvement of photovoltaic cells is crucial. While much research is focused on finding new chemical compounds exhibiting photovoltaic effects, silicon photovoltaic cells are still the most widely used and available. In the following research, successive measurements on monocrystalline silicon photovoltaic cells are taken as they are exposed to a temperature of 80 K for an extended period of time. Performance characteristics such as open circuit voltage, V_oc, short circuit current, I_sc, and fill fraction, FF, are measured while the cell is sealed inside a cryogenic system held in vacuum. Measurements of the cells' characteristics show that the exposure at 80 K permanently affects the performance of the cell when it is tested at low temperatures. This change occurs primarily in V_oc, potentially leading to an overall improvement of the performance of the cell at low temperatures. An understanding of this effect will provide further insight into potential avenues to increase photovoltaic performance.