Local photovoltaic characterization of Si thin film solar cells

New technique to measure local photovoltaic properties of Si based thin film solar cells has been developed using scanning probe microscopy technique. Local photovoltaic properties of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film solar cell was demonstrated using this technique. Short-circuit current obtained from local current-voltage (I-V) characteristics with light irradiation increased with increasing the irradiation light power. The value of the open-circuit voltage obtained from local I-V characteristics with light irradiation was almost the same as that obtained from macroscopic one. In the a-Si:H thin film solar cell used in this work, the local photovoltaic properties was not uniform in the scanning area.