X-Ray Switching Study on Thin Film Silicon Photovoltaic Solar Panel
Thin film silicon solar panels are subjected to switching study under high energy X-Rays exposures. Photo current of unbiased cell is recorded with time at short regular intervals (10 sec) at room temperature. These exposures develop reproducing photocurrents. Long exposures (Kilo second) are found to degrade the photocurrent almost linearly at a rate 2.4X10-14A/s. Solar panels are found to recover from the radiation damage in time spanning from 10-15 Hr. Trends of photo-currents at on-set and off-set are analysed in the light of trap-centers and reverse electric field at the electrodes. Variations of photocurrent with intensity of X-rays were also obtained. Results show that silicon based thin film solar cells are sufficiently stable and hard under the short exposures (10s) from high energy X-rays and can be used as X-ray sensors for space applications.
