Evaluation of cell to module losses for n-type IBC solar cells assembled with state of the art consumables and production equipment

In this paper we present an investigation on different aspects of the module assembly for back contacted n-type solar cells; in our case implemented on ISC's “Zebra” IBC cell. With all contacts on the rear, new possibilities and challenges arise. The study is conducted on one cell mini-modules, “rear half”- and “front half”- mini-modules. It is aiming to minimize the overall cell to module (CTM) loss and to maximize module robustness against climate chamber tests. Electrical losses are evaluated using different interconnection schemes whereby optical losses are studied by utilizing novel encapsulant layers; long term stability is probed with climate chamber testing (TC200/400), PID and surface polarization tests.