Characterisation

July 28th, 2019

A wide array of characterisation equipment is available at CSIRO's Flexible Electronics Laboratory for evaluation of PV devices and modules having active areas ranging from 0.1 cm2 to ~1,000 cm2.

 

A range of Solar Simulators and Source Measure Units are available at the FEL for the evaluation of Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) of devices or modules having active areas from 0.1 cm2 to ~1,000 cm2.
Maximum Power Point (MPP) tracker for the stability and lifetime analysis of small-area devices and mini-modules (geometric area ~100 cm2).
Light Beam Induced Current (LBIC) imaging (also known as photocurrent mapping) system is a well-established method for the analysis of recombination-active defects and degradation mechanism of printed photovoltaics cells and modules. An in-house built instrument is available, as well as a commercial unit (InfintyPV).
Outdoor stability and operational lifetime studies of mini-modules (~100 cm2) are conducted at the FEL in CSIRO (Clayton) using a solar cell assessment rig designed and constructed in-house. This system enables frequent I-V measurements of devices/modules installed on a North-facing panel for evaluating performance under outdoor conditions.

Steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy of devices, films, or solutions. Excitation/Emission at 300 → 850 nm with <1 ns → 1 s time resolution.

Transient Absorption Spectroscopy of films or solutions. Pulsed laser excitation at 355 nm or 420 → 650 nm, with 100 ns → >100 ms time resolution.

PhotoCELIV of small-area devices. Pulsed laser excitation at 337 nm, with 1 ms → >1 ms time resolution.

Electroluminescence imaging of small-area devices or mini-modules. Pixel resolution ranges from ~11 micron2 for small-area devices to ~0.015 mm2 for mini-modules. 30-cm wide modules can be imaged using a wide-angle lens. Camera: Andor CMOS, 4.2 MP, 16-bit

In addition, we have access to equipment such as SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, AFM, etc. hosted by experts in the Materials Characterisation Team in CSIRO’s Manufacturing Research Unit.