Design of Optimization of CIGS Thin Film Solar Cell Using Numerical and Design of Experimental Approach

Author(s):  
Ilwoo Seok ◽  
Sanjay Dhage ◽  
Seongku Kim ◽  
H. T. Hahn

Design of optimization of thin film solar cell module based on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) is investigated through a simulation model. At first, a numerical model which is equivalent to a practical cell module and represents one diode electrical circuit method is sought in FEA (Finite Element Analysis) and several parameters are adjusted. In FEA, the distribution of electric potential within each layer is shown with accordance to the given inputs. Next, to find the optimal design, four design variables (factors) which have three levels each are chosen and Design of Experimental (DOE) is performed so that the order of influences to performance is arranged. In DOE, a series of simulation follows the prepared orthogonal array, which is a sort of combinations by factors and levels, then analysis of variance (ANOVA) table is built up to screen unimportant design variables. Finally, the surface response function, which represents the relationship between important design variables and the purposed performance such as efficiency and fill factor (FF), is found and shown into equipotential graphs.

2012 ◽  
Vol 725 ◽  
pp. 175-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Abe ◽  
Takashi Minemoto ◽  
Hideyuki Takakura

We focused on the reduction of the crack formation in the transfer of the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cell structure. We found that the crack formation was reduced by increasing the In2O3:Sn thickness. We concluded that the whole thickness of the transferred layers is an important roll in the reduction of the crack formation. Moreover, we proposed the crack occupancy as a quantitative evaluation method of the crack inside the CIGS layer.


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.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document