Resistive limitations to spatially inhomogeneous electronic losses in solar cells

Spatial variations of the electronic properties of solar cells are simulated with the help of a multi-diode model. Increasing the local series resistance limits the degradation of the overall performance by reducing losses of the open circuit voltage originating from cell areas with minor electronic quality. At the same time, the fill factor of the device decreases such that an optimum local series resistance for maximum power conversion efficiency is found. The value of the optimum series resistance depends on the degree of electronic inhomogeneity. Thus, optimization rules for spatially uniform solar cells are different from those for nonuniform cells. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.