Moisture ingress monitoring in flexible electronics and the effect of gridline width in IBC solar cell performance

         The number of flexible electronics applications is increasing rapidly where novel device architectures and packaging materials are employed to ensure superior performance and reliability. Some of the preliminary reliability work to be presented has been performed on a printed sensor on a flexible PET substrate laminated onto an ETFE foil. In this initial evaluation we are demonstrating the capability of monitoring the water ingress in the laminate at various locations by employing techniques such as: reflectance, Karl Fischer titration and a novel technique called Hydroscanner which has not been used extensively so far.
On the PV side the work has been focused on IBC cell architecture where we are attempting to emphasize the importance of simulations at gridline level. The results of simulations can reveal useful information on how the gridline geometry can have an effect on the electrical performance of the cell. The process of scanning through a range of gridline widths on a specific IBC architecture can shed some light on the desired finger geometry for optimum performance which can provide useful information for the screen design process.