For crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells, it is useful to measure accurately the thickness of silicon oxide (SiO _x ) layer presents on textured c-Si surface to further adapt the fluoride-based etching treatment. Common techniques used to characterize thin films thicknesses, such as ellipsometry or profilometry, are however not suitable for highly textured surfaces. In this work, a methodology based on Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) has been developed to determine the thickness of anodic SiO _x on n-type textured c-Si surface. EIS measurements have been carried out on bare c-Si surface as well as on c-Si surface with various anodic SiO _x thicknesses grown by photo-oxidation. The as-obtained Nyquist and Bode diagrams enabled to plot the related Mott-Schottky curves and determine the corresponding flatband potentials (V _fb ). A reference standard graph giving the anodic SiO _x thickness according to measured V _fb has been therefore established. A shift of Mott-Schottky curves towards higher potential values with increased anodic SiO _x thickness has been shown and explained. Mott-Schottky curves of photo-oxidized silicon surfaces have demonstrated a particular shape related to the different behaviors of Si/SiO _x /electrolyte device depending on the applied overpotential. These results have been used to study the etching rate of anodic SiO _x in NaHF ₂ fluoride media.

Potential induced degradation of the polarization type (PID-p) can reduce module performance in a relatively short period of time. PID-p can occur at both voltage polarities, but most studies are focused on degradation under a negative bias. This paper uses commercial bifacial passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) cells within a monofacial glass-backsheet module construction to evaluate the impact of PID-p under a positive bias on the front side. Using the aluminum-foil (Al-foil) method, the module was stressed for PID in an environmental chamber. After the stress, the maximum power (Pmax) showed a decline of 3.1% at 1000 W/m ² and 6.2% at 200 W/m ² . Recovery under light was also investigated. Complete recovery was observed at high irradiance, while a partial recovery was seen at lower irradiance. The outcomes of this study can help in understanding PID-p degradation under a positive bias and its recovery under the light.

Bifacial photovoltaic (PV) modules have the advantage of using light reflected off of the ground to contribute to power production. Predicting the energy gain is challenging and requires complex models to do so accurately. Often, module degradation over time is neglected in models for the sake of simplicity or is underestimated. Comparing outdoor and indoor current–voltage (I–V) performance for bifacial modules is more challenging than for monofacial modules, as there are additional variables to consider such as rear albedo non-uniformity, cell mismatch, and their effects on temperature. This challenge is compounded when heterogeneous degradation modes occur, such as polarization-type potential-induced degradation (PID-p). To examine the effects of PID-p on I–V predictions using an empirical data-driven approach, 16 bifacial PERC modules are installed outdoors on racks with different albedo conditions. A subset is exposed to high-voltage biases of −1500 V or +1500 V. Outdoor data are traced at irradiance ranges of 150–250 W/m², 500–600 W/m², and 900–1000 W/m². These curves are corrected using control module temperature, wire resistivity, and module resistance measured indoors. We examine several methods to transform indoor I–V curves to accurately, and more simply than existing methods, approximate outdoor performance for bifacial modules without and with varying levels of PID-p degradation. This way, bifacial performance modeling can be more accessible and informed by fielded, degraded modules. Distributions of percent errors between indoor and outdoor performance parameters and Mean Absolute Percent Errors (MAPEs) are used to assess method quality. Results including low-irradiance data (150–250 W/m²) are discussed but are filtered for quantifying method quality as these data introduce substantial errors. The method with the most optimal tradeoff between low MAPE and analysis simplicity involves measuring the front side of a module indoors at an irradiance equal to plane-of-array irradiance plus the product of module bifaciality and albedo irradiance. This method gives MAPE values of 1–6.5% for non-degraded and 1.6–5.9% for PID-p degraded module performance.