NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy 

Efficiency & Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

Influence of Impurities in 

Module Packaging on 

Potential-Induced Degradation

Peter Hacke, Stephen Glick, 

Steve Johnston, Robert Reedy, 

Joel Pankow, Kent Terwilliger, and Sarah Kurtz

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Presented at the 22nd Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar 

Cells & Modules: Materials and Processes

Vail, Colorado

July 22–25, 2012

Technical Report

NREL/TP-5200-56301

September 2012
NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy 

Efficiency & Renewable Energy, operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

15013 Denver West Parkway

Golden, Colorado 80401

303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

Influence of Impurities in 

Module Packaging on 

Potential-Induced Degradation

Peter Hacke, Stephen Glick, 

Steve Johnston, Robert Reedy, 

Joel Pankow, Kent Terwilliger, and Sarah Kurtz

National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

Presented at the 22nd Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar 

Cells & Modules: Materials and Processes

Vail, Colorado

July 22–25, 2012

Prepared under Task No. SS12.2520

Technical Report

NREL/TP-5200-56301

September 2012
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Abstract

Chemical compounds were added into crystalline silicon cell mini modules, including in the 

encapsulant, interfaces, and glass, to determine their effect on potential-induced degradation 

(PID). Fe, either in the glass or at the glass/encapsulant interface, was found to be correlated with 

increased PID, but the difference in module power loss was not statistically significant compared 

to controls. Additions of Cu, Cr, Pb, Sn, Ag, and Na compounds to either the encapsulant or at 

the glass/encapsulant interface did not appear correlated with PID. Lock-in thermography on 

bare cells affected by PID removed from the mini modules show highly localized areas of 

junction breakdown, and SIMS analysis indicates localized impurities as well, though a spatial 

relation between the two was not established. Deposition of a conductive layer on the front 

surface of the cell, either with semitransparent Ta or Poly 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT), 

eliminated PID when the cells were stressed at -1000 V bias, 50°C, with the glass face grounded 

for 140 h.

Introduction

Potential-induced degradation (PID) occurs in some conventional p-type base crystalline silicon 

cell modules in negative voltage strings. It is believed to be associated with positive charge 

moving from the grounded module frame, along the front surface of the glass when damp, dirty, 

or wet, through the soda-lime glass and encapsulant to the cell [1-2]. Species from the glass such 

as sodium have been seen to accumulate at the cell front [1]. PID is mitigated by making the 

glass or encapsulant more resistive, or by generally increasing the resistive path from the active 

layer of the module to ground [1]. On the cell level, increasing the index of refraction of the 

silicon nitride antireflective coating has been reported to improve resistance to PID [3]. This was 

speculatively associated with an increase in conductivity or a change in trap states [4]. 

PID leads primarily to fill factor degradation, which can be modeled with increased second-diode 

pre-exponential and ideality factor and decreasing shunt resistance in a two-diode model [5]. A 

number of physical models have been proposed for PID. This includes a charge model, whereby 

the negatively biased cell attracts cations that interact with the silicon nitride, possibly creating 

dipoles in the silicon nitride dielectric and locally distorting the bands in the emitter. The second 

is an impurity model, whereby positive ions are attracted to the cell and the impurities 

themselves cause recombination in the junction. Third, positive charge may be accelerated by an 

electrical potential over silicon nitride causing lattice damage [6]. All these models involve 

charged species interacting with the cell. Use of a conductive layer over the antireflective coating 

of a cell connected to the cell base was proposed to mitigate ‘polarization’ in back-contact n-type 

cells [7]. In this study, we examine how additions of various species in the module package 

affect PID to gain understanding of the PID mechanisms in conventional p-type base silicon 

cells.

Experiment

A series of one-cell mini modules was constructed with multicrystalline Si cells, ethylene vinyl 

acetate (EVA), glass, and conventional polyester back sheets. Various chemical additions were 

made to induce or mitigate PID.
2 

First, saturated solutions of iron (II) chloride, copper acetate, chromium (II) chloride, lead 

acetate, tin (II) acetate, and silver acetate in ethanol were made. The solutions were placed in 

patches between the ethylene vinyl acetate and the front glass. The transition metal compounds 

of Fe, Cu, and Cr were placed in different areas over three one-cell mini modules, and the 

compounds of species found in solder alloys, Sn, Pb, and Ag, were placed in different areas on 

three other one-cell mini modules. Transition metals were tested in view of their role as 

recombination centers in silicon in even small concentrations, while components of solder alloys 

were examined because they are typically found in abundance on soldered tabs in PV modules. 

Three mini modules without added impurities were made for comparison. A bias of -1000 V was 

applied to the shorted module leads at 40°C, 35% relative humidity for 33 h. Aluminum foil was 

pressed on the glass face to achieve grounding. Degradation in the stressed samples was 

estimated by measuring the leakage current at 0.5 V reverse bias (assumed to correspond to the 

shunt resistance of the cell). Thermography was carried out to determine any spatial relation 

between the added impurities and the PID. 

Second, a designed experiment to determine the effects of iron and sodium in the glass was 

carried out. Module packages with varying glass type (Fe-containing and low-Fe) and EVA type 

(conventional and with 10% sodium acetate added) were stress tested at -1000 V, 120 h, and 

45°C. The glass face was grounded using carbon-containing paste. Module degradation in these 

samples was evaluated using a Sinton Instruments Suns-Voc tester. 

Third, lock-in thermography (LIT) to image and locate PID hot-spots and secondary ion mass 

spectroscopy (SIMS) to image impurities as a function of depth were performed on cells with 

mini modules encapsulated using a procedure to allow extraction of the cells [7]. These modules 

were stressed at –1000 V, 50°C, 10% relative humidity for 168 h with Al foil grounding on the 

module face. 

Finally, semi-transparent layers of Ta were applied by electron beam physical vapor deposition 

and PEDOT (Clevios PH1000) was applied by slot-die coating on the surfaces of cells, three 

with each material, to test the effectiveness of conductive layers to inhibit PID. Three controls 

without coatings were also prepared for comparison. These samples were stressed as those for 

LIT and SIMS (above), but for 140 h. Module power degradation was evaluated using dark I-V 

measurements and the superposition principle [5]. 

Results and Discussion 

Fig. 1 (top) shows the transition metal compounds of Fe, Cu, and Cr that were placed in different 

areas over the cells in mini modules, and Fig. 1 (bottom) shows those with Sn, Pb, and Ag. 

Thermography images obtained after the stress tests are superimposed to determine any spatial 

relation between the deposited impurities and junction failure by PID. There was no exact 

correspondence between regions covered by any of these impurities and junction failure, but hot 

spots were generated most frequently where iron (II) chloride solution was deposited. 

Power loss of the modules containing ionic species of solder alloys, transition metals, and with 

no added impurities compared after 33 h of stress is given in Fig. 2. The modules containing the 

transition metals Cu, Cr, and Fe are found to have exhibited the greatest power loss, but not 

statistically significantly so. 
3 

 

Figure 1. Optical images of four encapsulated cells with patches of Cu, Cr, Fe compounds (top) 

and Pb, Sn, Ag compounds (bottom) superimposed with thermography images of cells in reverse 

bias obtained after inducing PID, showing spatial relations between added impurities and junction 

breakdown. The perimeters of the impurity patches are highlighted with dashed lines. Regions 

with the Fe compound added develop the most hot spots—red arrows point out some examples. 

Heating on the cell edges is believed to be from edge isolation failures. The temperature scale at 

the right is given in °C. 

Results of additional testing to evaluate the effects of Fe and Na that were carried out in a 

designed experiment are shown in Fig. 3. The results show that mini modules constructed with 

the Fe-containing glass degrade to a lower mean open-circuit voltage than those without, but 

statistically, we cannot confirm there is a difference with use of the Fe-containing glass. More 

work to define the role of Fe in degradation (if any) will be the subject of future work. Addition 

of Na to the EVA produced no change in the mean degradation compared to the samples without 

added Na under the stress regime we used. 
4 

It must be considered that with additions of impurities, two variables are changed. Conductivity 

between the active layer (the cell) and ground is increased, and the introduced species itself has 

the potential to fundamentally cause PID. In these experiments, the two variables remain 

convoluted. Despite not seeing additional sodium introduced into the module via the EVA 

promoting PID, Na is believed to enable PID by providing conductivity through glass [1]. 

Figure 2. Degradation of mini modules containing intentionally included ionic impurities after PID 

stress testing. Student’s t rings show the 95% confidence interval of the means. It is seen that the 

mini modules with the Fe-containing glass exhibit greater degradation than the low-Fe glass 

group, but the sample set does not show statistically significant results. 

 

Figure 3. Designed experiment examining effects of glass chemistry (Fe-containing vs. low-Fe 

glass) and sodium in the encapsulant (conventional vs. Na-containing EVA). Fe-containing glass 

leads to more PID after stress testing, but not statistically significantly so (left). While sodium is 

known to cause ionic conduction enabling PID, additional Na added to the encapsulant did not 

increase PID as tested (right). Student’s t rings show the 95% confidence interval of the means. 

Relationships between PID junction failure and the location of impurities are sought to determine 

if and how impurities are involved in the junction breakdown. LIT imaging on an extracted cell 
5 

from a mini module is shown in Fig. 4. The LIT images on the extracted degraded cell show 

PID-related hot spots at discrete points. SIMS analyses on this sample for Na are shown in Fig. 5 

up to an estimated depth of 0.52 μm, a range at or beyond the junction depth. It is seen that 

impurities tend to be clustered rather than evenly distributed. While there is an interesting 

consistency between the localized nature of both the impurities and junction degradation by PID, 

the exact spatial relation remains to be determined. Such spatial relation between Na clusters 

near the silicon surface and failed junction locations has been previously shown with an electron 

beam-induced current scan, supporting a charge model leading to emitter inversion [9]. 

Figure 4. Lock-in thermography showing discrete 

localized hot spots in an area of a silicon cell 

removed from a module affected by PID. Ag grid 

fingers in black are seen indicating 2.2 mm.

Figure 5. SIMS Na signal near the surface (left), 0.26 μm depth (center), and 0.52 μm depth (right) 

of a cell area degraded by PID. The color scale is given in counts. The images are 0.5 mm x 0.5 

mm. 

PID power loss as a function of stress time is shown in Fig. 6 comparing mini modules with 

semitransparent coatings of Ta, PEDOT, and no coating on the cell. It is seen that use of the 

conductive coatings arrests PID. This finding supports the hypothesis that higher-index AR 

coatings inhibit PID because of the increase in conductivity, zeroing the electrical potential over 

the silicon nitride layer as was achieved here using the conductive coatings that connect the top 

silicon nitride surface to the Si below via the grid fingers. This result is consistent with all three 

mechanistic PID models introduced. The driving force for ions to move through the silicon 

nitride toward the silicon is eliminated. Also, positive ions at the silicon nitride front may be 

chemically reduced with the supply of electrons provided by the negative potential applied to the 

cell, stopping their advancement toward the silicon. 
6 

Figure 6. Power loss vs. time of mini 

modules made with cells with conductive 

coatings (Ta, PEDOT) and without coating. 

There are three samples in each 

experimental split. The conductive coatings 

are seen to mitigate the PID.

Summary and Conclusions 

Addition of iron (II) chloride to the module package and use of iron-containing glass appeared to 

promote PID, but a statistically significant conclusion on the effect of iron on power loss by PID 

could not be drawn. Placing Na, Cr, Cu, Ag, Pb, and Sn compounds in the module package were 

not found to promote PID when compared to samples without these added compounds that were 

similarly stressed. Highly localized hot spots and elevated concentration of ionic species, Na in 

particular, was seen in areas degraded by PID, but a spatial relation between the two was not 

clarified. Conductive coatings deposited on cell surfaces were found to arrest PID; they are 

believed to eliminate the electrical potential over the silicon nitride, removing the driving force 

for ions to move beyond the silicon nitride front further toward the silicon. 

Acknowledgements 

The authors thank Greg Perrin for stress testing equipment and support, and Anna Duda and 

Scott Hammond for applying cell coatings. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of 

Energy under Contract No. DE-AC36-08-GO28308 with the National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory. 

References 

[1] P. Hacke et al., “Characterization of Multicrystalline Silicon Modules with System Bias 

Voltage Applied in Damp Heat,” 25th EU PVSEC, Valencia, Spain, 2010, pp. 3760–3765. 

[2] P. Hacke et al., “System voltage potential-induced degradation mechanisms in PV modules 

and methods for test,” 37th IEEE PVSC, Seattle, 2011, pp. 814–820. 

[3] S. Pingel et al., “Potential Induced Degradation of Solar Cells and Panels,” 35th IEEE PVSC, 

Honolulu, 2010, pp. 2817–2822. 

[4] S. Pingel, “Potential Induced Degradation (PID),” Proceedings of the Fraunhofer ISE: PV 

Module Reliability Workshop, Berlin, April 5-6, 2011. 
7

[5] P. Hacke et al., “Testing and Analysis for Lifetime Prediction of Crystalline Silicon PV 

Modules Undergoing Degradation by System Voltage Stress,” 38th IEEE PVSC, Austin, 2011, 

pp. 814–820.

[6] P. Hacke et al., “Potential-Induced Degradation and Failure of Modules by System Voltage 

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Materials and Processes, Breckenridge, 2011.

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issued June 30, 2009.

[8] S. Koch et al., “Polarization effects and tests for crystalline silicon cells,” 26th EU PVSEC, 

2011, Hamburg, pp. 17261731.

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solar cells,” Phys. Status Solidi RRL, 2012, 1–3, in print.