Thin Film Solar Cells: Fine-Tuning the Sn Content in CZTSSe Thin Films to Achieve 10.8% Solar Cell Efficiency from Spray-Deposited Water-Ethanol-Based Colloidal Inks (Adv. Energy Mater. 24/2015)

CdTe is a very robust and chemically stable material and for this reason its related solar cell thin film photovoltaic technology is now the only thin film technology in the first 10 top producers in the world. CdTe has an optimum band gap for the Schockley-Queisser limit and could deliver very high efficiencies as single junction device of more than 32%, with an open circuit voltage of 1 V and a short circuit current density exceeding 30 mA/cm2. CdTe solar cells were introduced at the beginning of the 70s and they have been studied and implemented particularly in the last 30 years. The strong improvement in efficiency in the last 5 years was obtained by a new redesign of the CdTe solar cell device reaching a single solar cell efficiency of 22.1% and a module efficiency of 19%. In this paper we describe the fabrication process following the history of the solar cell as it was developed in the early years up to the latest development and changes. Moreover the paper also presents future possible alternative absorbers and discusses the only apparently controversial environmental impacts of this fantastic technology.

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The Effect of Different Surface Plasmon Polaritons Shapes on Thin Film Solar Cell Efficiency

10.21203/rs.3.rs-457172/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Khalil ElKhamisy ◽

Salah Elagooz ◽

El-Sayed El-Rabaie ◽

Hamdy Abdelhamid

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Surface Plasmon ◽

Surface Plasmon Polaritons ◽

Thin Film Solar Cell ◽

Series Resistance ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency ◽

Plasmon Polaritons

Abstract Thin film Si solar cell and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) effects on solar cell efficiency, series resistance and shunt resistance are studied and analyzed in this work. The different surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) shapes and their effects on the optical, electrical properties and therefore on the efficiency of thin film solar cell are studied in this work. This study is introduced using 3D numerical simulation results. The semiconductor and electromagnetic models are incorporated for studying the electrical and optical behaviors of the thin film solar cells, respectively. A 14.76% efficiency is obtained for triangle’ SPPs of about 1.07% of efficiency improvement compared to solar cell of SPPs free. The solar cell electrical parameters also are extracted in this work based on a single diode equivalent model. The series resistance is enhanced for solar cells of equilateral triangle SPP by 3% compared to the non-applied SPPs.

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Chemical composition dependence of morphological and optical properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films deposited by sol–gel sulfurization and Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film solar cell efficiency

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells ◽

10.1016/j.solmat.2010.10.031 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 95 (3) ◽

pp. 838-842 ◽

Cited By ~ 244

Author(s):

Kunihiko Tanaka ◽

Yuki Fukui ◽

Noriko Moritake ◽

Hisao Uchiki

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Optical Properties ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Thin Film Solar Cell ◽

Composition Dependence ◽

Sol Gel ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency ◽

Cu2znsns4 Thin Film

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Synthesis of Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 thin films using an aqueous spray-pyrolysis approach, and their solar cell efficiency of 10.5%

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/c4ta05783j ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 3 (8) ◽

pp. 4147-4154 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Md. Anower Hossain ◽

Zhang Tianliang ◽

Lee Kian Keat ◽

Li Xianglin ◽

Rajiv R. Prabhakar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Spray Pyrolysis ◽

Power Conversion Efficiency ◽

Conversion Efficiency ◽

Large Scale ◽

Power Conversion ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency

An aqueous spray-pyrolysis approach for synthesizing Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 thin film, which leads to 10.54% power conversion efficiency in solar cell, and shows ease of fabrication of films in large-scale at a much cheaper cost.

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CuInSe2 thin film solar cells prepared by low-cost electrodeposition techniques from a non-aqueous bath

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c5ra18315d ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 (109) ◽

pp. 89635-89643 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Priyanka U. Londhe ◽

Ashwini B. Rohom ◽

Nandu B. Chaure

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Low Cost ◽

Cell Structure ◽

Power Conversion ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell Structure ◽

Cuinse2 Thin Film

Highly crystalline and stoichiometric CIS thin films have been electrodeposited from non-aqueous bath at temperature 130 °C. Superstrate solar cell structure (FTO/CdS/CIS/Au) exhibited 4.5% power conversion efficiency.

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Fine-Tuning the Sn Content in CZTSSe Thin Films to Achieve 10.8% Solar Cell Efficiency from Spray-Deposited Water-Ethanol-Based Colloidal Inks

Advanced Energy Materials ◽

10.1002/aenm.201501404 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 5 (24) ◽

pp. 1501404 ◽

Cited By ~ 85

Author(s):

Gerardo Larramona ◽

Sergiu Levcenko ◽

Stéphane Bourdais ◽

Alain Jacob ◽

Christophe Choné ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thin Films ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency

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Efficiency Enhancement by Optimizing Selenization Time for Co-Sputtered Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Thin Film Solar Cells

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.793.35 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 793 ◽

pp. 35-39

Author(s):

Luan Hong Sun ◽

Hong Lie Shen ◽

Hu Lin Huang ◽

Hui Rong Shang

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Thin Films ◽

Grain Size ◽

Optical Properties ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Conversion Efficiency ◽

Thin Film Solar Cells ◽

Efficiency Enhancement ◽

Diffraction Angle

To reveal the effects of annealing condition on CZTSSe thin film solar cells, co-sputtering and subsequent selenization were used to prepare CZTSSe thin films. Structural, morphological and optical properties of CZTSSe thin films were investigated. CZTSSe thin films with various Se/(S+Se) ratio ranging from 0.69-0.78 were obtained. Representative peaks corresponding to CZTSSe in XRD and Raman results showed a slight shift to lower diffraction angle and wavenumbers. Selenization time significantly influenced the morphologies of CZTSSe films and the gradual grown up grain size was observed. VOCdeficit values down to 839 mV was achieved for the best cell. CZTSSe solar cell with the selenization time of 10 min showed a best conversion efficiency of 5.32%, which presented a 50% enhancement comparing to the solar cells with insufficient and over-selenized absorbers.

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Optical Absorption Enhancement in Amorphous Silicon Films and Solar Cell Precursors Using the Aluminum-Induced Glass Texturing Method

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2014/842891 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Nasim Sahraei ◽

Selvaraj Venkataraj ◽

Premachandran Vayalakkara ◽

Armin G. Aberle

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Optical Absorption ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Absorber Layer ◽

Silicon Films ◽

Absorption Enhancement ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency

One of the key issues of thin-film silicon solar cells is their limited optical absorptance due to the thin absorber layer and the low absorption coefficient for near-infrared wavelengths. Texturing of one or more interfaces in the layered structure of these cells is an important technique to scatter light and enhance the optical pathlength. This in turn enhances the optical absorption of the solar radiation in the absorber layer and improves the solar cell efficiency. In this paper we investigate the effects of textured glass superstrate surfaces on the optical absorptance of intrinsic a-Si:H films and a-Si:Hp-i-nthin-film solar cell precursors deposited onto them. The silicon-facing surface of the glass sheets was textured with the aluminium-induced glass texturing method (AIT method). Absorption in both intrinsic silicon films and solar cell precursor structures is found to increase strongly due to the textured glass superstrate. The increased absorption due to the AIT glass opens up the possibility to reduce the absorber layer thickness of a-Si:H solar cells.

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Incorporation of CdCl2 surface treatment into the CdS/ZnTe hetero-junction solar cell device structures for efficiency improvement

FUOYE Journal of Engineering and Technology ◽

10.46792/fuoyejet.v4i3.522 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Olajide I Olusola

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Surface Treatment ◽

Tin Oxide ◽

Window Layer ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency ◽

Device Structures ◽

Cdcl2 Treatment

p-ZnTe thin film semiconductors have been successfully used as an absorber material to n-CdS window layer by effectively optimising the ZnTe absorber layer thickness. In order to create a two terminal hetero-junction diode from the n- and p- type materials, two ohmic electrical contacts are required. This was achieved by depositing n-CdS layers on glass/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conducting substrate and evaporating Au on p-ZnTe layer. The ZnTe layer was successfully electroplated on CdS thin film grown on glass/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conducting substrates. The device structures were subjected to heat treatment in air with and without CdCl2 surface treatment using temperature of 400oC and duration of 10 minutes. The incorporation of the CdCl2 treatment led to enhancement in the solar cell efficiency. Solar cells developed from glass/FTO/n-CdS/p-ZnTe/Au device structure gave an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 450 mV, short circuit current density (Jsc) of 7.26 mAcm-2 and fill-factor (FF) of 0.31 resulting in 1.0% efficiency (η) for n-CdS/p-ZnTe heterostructure annealed ordinarily in air. After treating the top surface of n-CdS/p-ZnTe heterostructure with CdCl2 solution, all the solar cell parameters improved with Voc of 480 mV, Jsc of 24.0 mAcm-2 and FF of 0.46 giving a total efficiency of 5.3%. For the CdS/ZnTe heterostructures treated without and with CdCl2 solution, the rectification factors (RF) observed from the I-V characteristics under dark condition for these devices are 101.0 and 102.2 respectively. Both devices show ideality factors (n) in excess of 2.0 and the reverse saturation currents are 79.4 and 0.16 nA for hetero-junction structures without and with CdCl2 treatment respectively. The improvement in the solar cell efficiency can be accredited to the integration of the CdCl2 treatment in the p-n junction cells. Keywords: Solar Cells, p-n Junction Diodes, n-CdS, Heterostructure, p-ZnTe, CdCl2 surface treatment.

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