Patent ID: 7847237

Claim:
A method for evaluating photoelectric conversion performance of a solar cell, comprising: a current passing step of passing, in a forward direction, a direct current with respect to a solar cell element constituting the solar cell; a temperature control step of heating the solar cell element and controlling a heating temperature of the solar cell element; a light emission detecting step of detecting change in light emission intensity of light generated from the solar cell element, due to the passing of the direct current in the current passing step, in accordance with change in the heating temperature in the temperature control step; and a judging step of judging, from the change in the light emission intensity detected in the light emission detecting step, whether the photoelectric conversion performance is good or poor, the judging step discriminating between (i) an internal cause defect caused by physical properties of a substrate material of the solar cell element and (ii) an external cause defect caused by an external factor to the solar cell element, the light detected in the light emission detecting step having a wavelength in a range of 1000 nm to 1300 nm.