Dendrite growth and degradation in multi‐junction solar cells

Silver dendrites have been shown to be responsible for shunting of p/n multi‐junction solar cell assemblies with silver‐plated interconnects. A variety of cell and interconnect designs has been studied in order to identify the key factors that result in silver dendrite formation and subsequent cell shunting. The experimental results suggest that in this case the shunting was due to the particular polarity of the cell and design of the interconnect that placed it in close proximity to the cell edge. As a result, mitigation strategies are readily available.