Design and Construction of Automated Electroluminescent Imaging System for Solar Cell Series Resistance Analyses

The Electroluminescence technique (ELIT) is used to characterize the spatial uniformity of the series resistance of a solar cell. When current is applied across the metal contacts, a solar cell operates analogously to LED. The image of the illuminated solar cell is captured via a Pentax K100D camera and sent wirelessly using a Wi-Fi SD card to a local computer. The captured image is displayed on the computer terminal, then the image is used for the qualitative evaluation of the series resistance is then obtained by the image processing tools in MATLAB for it to be displayed on the GUI. The primary advantages of the system are its low cost, automation, and simplicity. This EL system aims to measure within 5 percent accuracy of an I-V testing device at a fraction of the cost.