Solar cells in-line characterisation for industrial process

A method for in-line characterisation of the solar cells production process is presented. The method is based on two measurement instruments. One measuring the photoconductance and the other the open circuit voltage set up respectively after the diffusion process and after the metallization step. Both the instruments illuminating the samples under test by a similar flash lamp with a long decay time respect to the sample response (QSS). The method allows from one hand to take under control the quality of the production process and the quality of the material used and on the other hand to match both the measurements so to obtain significant information on the overall yield of the solar cells production process. We present results due to the application of the method to an industrial lot of solar cells.