scholarly journals Evaluation of recombination losses in thin film solar cells using an LED sun simulator − the effect of RbF post-deposition on CIGS solar cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Daniel Heinemann ◽  
Tim Kodalle ◽  
Charles Hages ◽  
Michael Klupsch ◽  
Dieter Greiner ◽  
...  

Distinguishing among different electrical loss mechanisms − such as interface and bulk recombination − is a common problem in thin film solar cells. In this work, we report a J–V measurement technique using different illuminating spectra to distinguish between these two recombination losses. The basic idea is to change the relative contribution of bulk recombination to the total losses of photo-generated charge carriers by generating them in different depths within the absorber layer using different spectral regions of the illuminating light. The use of modern LED sun-simulators allows an almost free design of illumination spectra at intensities close to 1 sun. The comparison of two simple J–V measurements, one recorded with illumination near the absorber's band-gap energy and one with light of higher energy, in combination with supporting measurements of the absorber properties, as well as device modeling, enables the extraction of the diffusion length and the interface recombination velocity. Using this technique, we show that in CIGS solar cells, an RbF post-deposition treatment does not only reduce interface recombination losses, as often reported, but also reduces bulk recombination in the CIGS absorber. Furthermore, we find that both cells, with and without RbF treatment, are dominantly affected by interface recombination losses.

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (19) ◽  
pp. 8843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Pianezzi ◽  
Patrick Reinhard ◽  
Adrian Chirilă ◽  
Benjamin Bissig ◽  
Shiro Nishiwaki ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 426 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tang ◽  
L. Feng ◽  
D. Mao ◽  
W. Song ◽  
Y. Zhu ◽  
...  

AbstractVacuum-evaporated Cu-doped ZnTe films have been studied as the intermediate layer between CdTe and metal contacts in CdTe/CdS thin-film solar cells for the formation of low resistance back contacts. Different metals (Au, Ni, Co) have been investigated as the contact material to the ZnTe layer. The effects of Cu concentration, ZnTe:Cu layer thickness, and ZnTe post-deposition annealing temperature on the cell performances have been investigated. We found that different metal contacts on the ZnTe layer lead to different doping densities in the CdTe layer and different open-circuit photovoltages of the solar cells. The possible formation of a back contact diode at the CdTe/ZnTe interface was explored, based on capacitance-voltage analysis. The series resistance of the CdTe/CdS cells was reduced significantly by the introduction of the ZnTe layer. Fill factors greater than 0.76 and an energy conversion efficiency of 12.9% have been achieved using ZnTe back contacts on electrodeposited CdTe.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-533
Author(s):  
Mohsen Sajadnia ◽  
Sajjad Dehghani ◽  
Zahra Noraeepoor ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Sheikhi

Purpose The purpose of this study is to design and optimize copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells. Design/methodology/approach A novel bi-layer CIGS thin film solar cell based on SnS is designed. To improve the performance of the CIGS based thin film solar cell a tin sulfide (SnS) layer is added to the structure, as back surface field and second absorbing layer. Defect recombination centers have a significant effect on the performance of CIGS solar cells by changing recombination rate and charge density. Therefore, performance of the proposed structure is investigated in two stages successively, considering typical and maximum reported trap density for both CIGS and SnS. To achieve valid results, the authors use previously reported experimental parameters in the simulations. Findings First by considering the typical reported trap density for both SnS and CIGS, high efficiency of 36%, was obtained. Afterward maximum reported trap densities of 1 × 1019 and 5.6 × 1015 cm−3 were considered for SnS and CIGS, respectively. The efficiency of the optimized cell is 27.17% which is achieved in CIGS and SnS thicknesses of cell are 0.3 and 0.1 µm, respectively. Therefore, even in this case, the obtained efficiency is well greater than previous structures while the absorbing layer thickness is low. Originality/value Having results similar to practical CIGS solar cells, the impact of the defects of SnS and CIGS layers was investigated. It was found that affixing SnS between CIGS and Mo layers causes a significant improvement in the efficiency of CIGS thin-film solar cell.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 871-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjoy Paul ◽  
Sachit Grover ◽  
Ingrid L. Repins ◽  
Brian M. Keyes ◽  
Miguel A. Contreras ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 287-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.G. Sousa ◽  
A.F. da Cunha ◽  
J.P. Teixeira ◽  
J.P. Leitão ◽  
G. Otero-Irurueta ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 1538 ◽  
pp. 27-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirou Kawakita ◽  
Mitsuru Imaizumi ◽  
Shogo Ishizuka ◽  
Hajime Shibata ◽  
Shigeru Niki ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTCIGS solar cells were irradiated with 250 keV electrons, which can create only Cu-related defects in the cell, to reveal the radiation defect. The EL image of CIGS solar cells before electron irradiation at 120 K described small grains, thought to be those of the CIGS. After 250 keV electron irradiation of the CIGS cell, the cell was uniformly illuminated compared to before the electron irradiation and the observed grains were unclear. In addition, the EL intensity rose with increasing electron fluence, meaning the change in EL efficiency may be attributable to the decreased likelihood of non-irradiative recombination in intrinsic defects due to electron-induced defects. Since the light soaking effect for CIGS solar cells is reported the same phenomena, the 250 keV electron radiation effects for CIGS solar cells might be equivalent to the effect.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1538 ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neelkanth G. Dhere ◽  
Ashwani Kaul ◽  
Helio Moutinho

ABSTRACTSodium plays an important role in the development of device quality CIGS (Cu-In-Ga-Se) and CIGSeS (Cu-In-Ga-Se-S) chalcopyrite thin film solar cells. In this study the effect of location of sodium precursor on the device properties of CIGS solar cells was studied. Reduction in the surface roughness and improvement in the crystallinity and morphology of the absorber films was observed with increase in sodium quantity from 0 Å to 40 Å and to 80 Å NaF. It was found that absorber films with 40 Å and 80 Å NaF in the front of the metallic precursors formed better devices compared to those with sodium at the back. Higher open circuit voltages and short circuit current values were achieved for devices made with these absorber films as well.


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