Nafion edge passivation and nitrogen annealing treatment to improve solar cell reliability under light and elevated temperature induced degradation (LeTID) investigation

This research examines the effectiveness of nitrogen annealing and Nafion treatment in mitigating Light and Elevated Temperature Induced Degradation (LeTID) in Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) solar cells, employing a 30-kW photovoltaic (PV) system for evaluation. As a photosensitive device, solar cells are susceptible to damage from laser irradiation, leading to reduced photoelectric conversion efficiency, structural damage, and functional loss. To minimize this loss, nitrogen annealing and Nafion treatments were applied, followed by the analysis of LeTID effects on untreated, Nafion-treated, and combined nitrogen-annealed and Nafion-treated PERC cells. Untreated cells showed an 8 % fall in open-circuit voltage (V_oc) and a 7 % fill factor (FF) loss. The combined treatment (Combination of Nitrogen & Nafion Treatment) improved stability, reducing losses to 6 % in V_oc and 5 % in FF. The Nafion treatment yielded the best results, limiting deterioration to 4 % in V_oc and 3 % in FF. PVsyst simulations, incorporating real-world data, confirmed enhanced stability and efficiency, aiding in optimizing PV system design and maintenance.