Measuring strain changes during production of thin film crystalline silicon on glass photovoltaic modules

We report on strain measurements made on samples of thin-film crystalline silicon on borosilicate glass solar cell obtained from CSG Solar after two significant thermal stages of production. Samples were obtained both after solid phase crystallization and subsequent rapid thermal annealing of the silicon. Results indicate a large change in strain between stages. After solid phase crystallization the polysilicon was found to be in a state of high compressive residual strain with an average recorded value of -0.24%. After the subsequent annealing this film strain present in the polysilicon was almost entirely passivated, reducing by a factor of 4.7 to record an average strain post annealing of -0.051%.