Development of a LBIC system adapted to the photovoltaic industry

Abstract

It was studied the Light-Beam-Induced-Current method on thin film solar panels to characterize them. First, it is indicated the state of the art of this technology and all relevant parameters. Then is detailed the setup of the experiment: a robot, a scanner, a laser with three different wavelengths, a lock-in amplifier and a wave generator. After some adjustments, started the tests on thin film solar panels finding defects in them and optimizing the parameters of the experiment. Two methods were used, a graphical comparison of an infrared image of the same panel and a mapping obtained with the LBIC method and secondly, a ratio between cells above and below the average. A diffraction experiment was performed to verify the results. Finally, some conclusions can be drawn about the laser configuration: wavelength, offset and amplitude and also, the frequency and shape of the wave.