Accelerated lifetime testing of thin-film solar cells at high irradiances and controlled temperatures

Within this study, we investigate the intrinsic photostability of thin-film solar cells, here organic photovoltaic cells. Since degradation under natural sun light proceeds within the timeframe of months and years, the process needs to be speeded up for fast material analysis and screening, using high-concentration accelerated lifetime testing (high-C ALT). For this purpose, we established setups allowing irradiances of up to 730 sun equivalents (SE). One key finding of our study is that accelerating the testing procedure by such large intensities is possible but a precise measurement and control of the solar cell temperature is absolutely essential. Accordingly, we developed an innovative method of determining the temperature of the active layer which offers significant advantages over commonly used measurement methods. Furthermore, it was found that the degradation process under high illumination densities can be well described by a stretched exponential law. We demonstrate that the temperature kinetics of P3HT:PCBM was found to be Arrhenius governed with an activation energy of 27.2 kJ/mol under continuous illumination of 300 SE. Finally, it was shown that the velocity of light-induced degradation of short-circuit current depends linearly on the used irradiance dose at a given temperature starting from normal illumination conditions up to at least 300 SE. This makes high-C ALT a very valuable tool for swift screening of the lifetime of novel thin-film solar cells and materials.