Patent ID: 8355561

Claim:
A method for screening of multi-junction solar cells to be operated in a high sun intensity and high temperature (HIHT) environment, each of the solar cells comprising at least two pn-junctions stacked on top of each other wherein one of the pn-junctions is a completely homogeneous pn-junction assumed to be free of intrinsic defects, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a number of solar cells to be screened for usability in the HIHT environment; for each solar cell of the number of solar cells, acquiring an electroluminescence image of the homogeneous pn-junction at a predefined bias current; analyzing a spatial intensity distribution in the electroluminescence image to determine whether there are local intensity variations that possibly dissipate power in the HIHT environment; sorting the solar cells of the number of solar cells, wherein solar cells having no local intensity variations in their electroluminescence image are put into a first group of solar cells and solar cells having at least one local intensity variation in their electroluminescence image are put into a second group of solar cells for further screening, wherein solar cells of the first group are suitable for a HIHT environment and solar cells of the second group are assumed to be potentially critical in a HIHT environment.