Effects of long-term heat-light soaking on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with KF postdeposition treatment

The effects of long-term heat-light soaking on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells with KF postdeposition treatment (KF-PDT) have been investigated. CIGS solar cells with KF-PDT frequently deteriorate after storage in the dark because of decreasing hole concentrations in the CIGS layers. Although light soaking improves hole concentrations, the resulting increase in conversion efficiency is not significant. In contrast, we found that long-term heat-light soaking effectively increases conversion efficiency, since the saturation current density and ideality factor are clearly improved by passivating the recombination centers at CdS/CIGS interfaces.