LBIC characterization of twin boundaries in tricrystalline silicon solar cells

The purpose of this work is the investigation of the electrical properties of solar cells made of tricrystalline silicon. The twin-boundaries were characterized with a high resolution light beam induced current (LBIC) measurement setup. The results were compared with measurements performed on conventional multicrystalline silicon solar cells. It is shown that the twins are electrically active. No significant difference between first and second order twinning can be detected. The grain-boundary recombination measured on multicrystalline solar cells lies by a factor of 5 above the twin-boundary activity.