Impact of doping concentration, thickness, and band-gap on individual layer efficiency of CIGS solar cell

An investigation with the individual layer physical property of the CIGS solar cells is a significant parameter to design and fabricate highly efficient devices. Therefore, this work demonstrates the thickness and carrier concentrations doping dependence simulations using SCAPS 1D software. The optimized CIGS solar cells different layer properties such as short-circuit current density ([Formula: see text], open-circuit voltage ([Formula: see text], Fill Factor (FF) and conversion efficiency ([Formula: see text] with varying thickness and doped concentration are presented. This optimized layer by layer simulation work would be useful to build a suitable CIGS solar cell structure. This simulation investigation showed that an optimal CIGS device structure can be fabricated possessing the configuration of a window layer ZnO : Al thickness 0.02 [Formula: see text]m, ZnO layer thickness 0.01 [Formula: see text] m with [Formula: see text] = 10[Formula: see text] cm[Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] = 10[Formula: see text] cm[Formula: see text], a CdS buffer layer thickness 0.01 [Formula: see text]m with [Formula: see text] = 10[Formula: see text] cm[Formula: see text] and absorber layer CIGS in the thickness range of 1–4 [Formula: see text]m with the doping level range [Formula: see text] = 10[Formula: see text]–10[Formula: see text] cm[Formula: see text], along with the optimal CIGS energy bandgap range of 1.3–1.45 eV. According to optimized simulation results, a CIGS solar cell device can possess electric efficiency 26.61%, FF 82.96%, current density of 38.21 mA/cm2 with the open circuit voltage 0.7977 eV. Hence, these optimized simulation findings could be helpful to provide a path to design and fabricate highly efficient CIGS solar cells devices.

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Interface Investigation of ZnO/CdS/CuIn1−xGaxSe2/Mo Solar Cells

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-668-h6.8 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 668 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

F.S. Hasoon ◽

H.A. Al-Thani ◽

K.M. Jones ◽

Y. Yan ◽

H. R. Moutinho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Band Gap ◽

Current Density ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Surface Microstructure ◽

Device Performance ◽

Microstructural Properties ◽

Cigs Solar Cells ◽

Graded Band Gap

ABSTRACTGraded-band-gap CuIn1−xGaxSe2 (CIGS) absorbers with Ga/Ga+In value in the 20%-30% range have a demonstrated efficiency of 18.8%. For CdS-containing devices, the shortcircuit current density (Jsc) has almost reached its expected maximum. However, the open-circuit voltage of CIGS solar cells is limited by the surface microstructure and chemistry. In this work, we examine the microstructural properties and chemistry of CIGS. We also attempted to correlate the above observations and device performance.

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Effect of p-Layer and i-Layer Properties on the Electrical Behaviour of Advanced a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H Thin Film Solar Cell from Numerical Modeling Prospect

International Journal of Photoenergy ◽

10.1155/2012/946024 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peyman Jelodarian ◽

Abdolnabi Kosarian

Keyword(s):

Thin Film ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Current Density ◽

Doping Concentration ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Maximum Efficiency ◽

Junction Solar Cell ◽

Double Junction

The effect of p-layer and i-layer characteristics such as thickness and doping concentration on the electrical behaviors of the a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H thin film heterostructure solar cells such as electric field, photogeneration rate, and recombination rate through the cell is investigated. Introducing Ge atoms to the Si lattice in Si-based solar cells is an effective approach in improving their characteristics. In particular, current density of the cell can be enhanced without deteriorating its open-circuit voltage. Optimization shows that for an appropriate Ge concentration, the efficiency of a-Si:H/a-SiGe solar cell is improved by about 6% compared with the traditional a-Si:H solar cell. This work presents a novel numerical evaluation and optimization of amorphous silicon double-junction (a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H) thin film solar cells and focuses on optimization of a-SiGe:H midgap single-junction solar cell based on the optimization of the doping concentration of the p-layer, thicknesses of the p-layer and i-layer, and Ge content in the film. Maximum efficiency of 23.5%, with short-circuit current density of 267 A/m2and open-circuit voltage of 1.13 V for double-junction solar cell has been achieved.

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Suppression of Edge Recombination in InAs/InGaAs DWELL Solar Cells

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-1210-q02-07 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 1210 ◽

Author(s):

Tingyi Gu ◽

Mohamed A El-Emawy ◽

Kai Yang ◽

Andreas Atintz ◽

Luke F Lester

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Quantum Wells ◽

Current Density ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Control Cell ◽

Lateral Diffusion ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Constant Current ◽

Short Current Density

AbstractThe InAs/InGaAs DWELL solar cell grown by MBE is a standard pin diode structure with six layers of InAs QDs embedded in InGaAs quantum wells placed within a 200-nm intrinsic GaAs region. The GaAs control wafer consists of the same pin configuration but without the DWELL structure. The typical DWELL solar cell exhibits higher short current density while maintaining nearly the same open-circuit voltage for different scales, and the advantage of higher short current density is more obvious in the smaller cells. In contrast, the smaller size cells, which have a higher perimeter to area ratio, make edge recombination current dominant in the GaAs control cells, and thus their open circuit voltage and efficiency severely degrade. The open-circuit voltage and efficiency under AM1.5G of the GaAs control cell decrease from 0.914V and 8.85% to 0.834V and 7.41%, respectively, as the size shrinks from 5*5mm2 to 2*2mm2, compared to the increase from 0.665V and 7.04% to 0.675V and 8.17%, respectively, in the DWELL solar cells. The lower open-circuit voltage in the smaller GaAs control cells is caused by strong Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination on the perimeter, which leads to a shoulder in the semi-logarithmic dark IV curve. However, despite the fact that the DWELL and GaAs control cells were processed simultaneously, the shoulders on the dark IV curve disappear in all the DWELL cells over the whole processed wafer. As has been discussed in previous research on transport in QDs, it is believed that the DWELL cells inhibit lateral diffusion current and thus edge recombination by collection first in the InGaAs quantum well and then trapping in the embedded InAs dots. This conclusion is further supported by the almost constant current densities of the different area DWELL devices as a function of voltage.

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Porous Silicon Antireflection Coating for Solar Cells Using Chemical Etching in HF-FeCl3-H2O

International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/jera.22.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 22 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rachid Chaoui ◽

Bedra Mahmoudi ◽

Yasmine Si Ahmed

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Current Density ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Short Circuit Current Density ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Relative Improvement ◽

Cell Conversion

Stain etching of silicon solar cells in HF-FeCl3-H2O solutions as a last step in the processing sequence is reported. The etching was carried out without protecting the screen printed contacts. Following optimization of the solution composition and using very short etching times to alleviate the contact degradation problem, the solar cell weighted reflectance (Rw) between 400 and 1100 nm could be reduced from 38.23% to 11.54%. For the best small area cell (~20 cm2), the PS antireflective layer led to a relative improvement of 62.74% in the short-circuit current density, the FF was enhanced by 5.5% absolute, the open-circuit voltage was increased by 1.2 mV and the cell conversion efficiency was raised by 4.1% absolute from 5.4% to 9.5%. The best large area cell (~78 cm2) shows the following changes after porous layer formation: a relative improvement of 45.43% in the short-circuit current density, an improvement in the FF of 7.4% absolute, an increase in the open-circuit voltage by 7.5 mV and an enhancement in the cell efficiency by 4.0% absolute from 6.2% to 10.2%. This method shows a great potential for the cost-effective reduction of reflectance losses in industrial silicon solar cell manufacturing.

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Numerical Simulation Analysis of Ag Crystallite Effects on Interface of Front Metal and Silicon in the PERC Solar Cell

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14030592 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 592

Author(s):

Myeong Sang Jeong ◽

Yonghwan Lee ◽

Ka-Hyun Kim ◽

Sungjin Choi ◽

Min Gu Kang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Surface Recombination ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Surface Recombination Velocity ◽

Metal Interface ◽

Ag Crystallites ◽

Recombination Velocity

In the fabrication of crystalline silicon solar cells, the contact properties between the front metal electrode and silicon are one of the most important parameters for achieving high-efficiency, as it is an integral element in the formation of solar cell electrodes. This entails an increase in the surface recombination velocity and a drop in the open-circuit voltage of the solar cell; hence, controlling the recombination velocity at the metal-silicon interface becomes a critical factor in the process. In this study, the distribution of Ag crystallites formed on the silicon-metal interface, the surface recombination velocity in the silicon-metal interface and the resulting changes in the performance of the Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (PERC) solar cells were analyzed by controlling the firing temperature. The Ag crystallite distribution gradually increased corresponding to a firing temperature increase from 850 ∘C to 950 ∘C. The surface recombination velocity at the silicon-metal interface increased from 353 to 599 cm/s and the open-circuit voltage of the PERC solar cell decreased from 659.7 to 647 mV. Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) simulation was used for detailed analysis on the effect of the surface recombination velocity at the silicon-metal interface on the PERC solar cell performance. Simulations showed that the increase in the distribution of Ag crystallites and surface recombination velocity at the silicon-metal interface played an important role in the decrease of open-circuit voltage of the PERC solar cell at temperatures of 850–900 ∘C, whereas the damage caused by the emitter over fire was determined as the main cause of the voltage drop at 950 ∘C. These results are expected to serve as a steppingstone for further research on improvement in the silicon-metal interface properties of silicon-based solar cells and investigation on high-efficiency solar cells.

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Junction Configuration Effects on the Photovoltaic Parameters of a-Si/CZTS Solar Cells

10.20944/preprints202201.0163.v1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

H. Bitam ◽

B. Hadjoudja ◽

Beddiaf Zaidi ◽

C. Shakher ◽

S. Gagui ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Photovoltaic Devices ◽

Solar Cell Efficiency ◽

Cell Efficiency ◽

Reported Study ◽

Stated Problem

Due to increased energy intensive human activities resulting accelerated demand for electric power coupled with occurrence of natural disasters with increased frequency, intensity, and duration, it becomes essential to explore and advance renewable energy technology for sustainability of the society. Addressing the stated problem and providing a radical solution has been attempted in this study. To harvest the renewable energy, among variety of solar cells reported, a composite a-Si/CZTS photovoltaic devices has not yet been investigated. The calculated parameters for solar cell based on the new array of layers consisting of a-Si/CZTS are reported in this study. The variation of i) solar cell efficiency as a function of CZTS layer thickness, temperature, acceptor, and donor defect concentration; ii) variation of the open circuit current density as a function of temperature, open circuit voltage; iii) variation of open circuit voltage as a function of the thickness of the CZTS layer has been determined. There has been no reported study on a-Si/CZTS configuration-based solar cell, analysis of the parameters, and study to address the challenges imped efficiency of the photovoltaic device and the same has been discussed in this work. The value of the SnO2/a-Si/CZTS solar cells obtained from the simulation is 23.9 %.

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Understanding the Effect of Donor Layer Thickness and a MoO3Hole Transport Layer on the Open-Circuit Voltage in Squaraine/C60Bilayer Solar Cells

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C ◽

10.1021/jp406472t ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 117 (39) ◽

pp. 19866-19874 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

James W. Ryan ◽

Thomas Kirchartz ◽

Aurélien Viterisi ◽

Jenny Nelson ◽

Emilio Palomares

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Layer Thickness ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Transport Layer

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Characteristics of an oxide/metal/oxide transparent conducting electrode fabricated with an intermediate Cu–Mo metal composite layer for application in efficient CIGS solar cell

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c7ra07406a ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (76) ◽

pp. 48113-48119 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

San Kang ◽

R. Nandi ◽

Jae-Kwan Sim ◽

Jun-Yong Jo ◽

Uddipta Chatterjee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Metal Oxide ◽

Composite Layer ◽

Metal Composite ◽

Cigs Solar Cell ◽

Transparent Conducting ◽

Different Types ◽

Cigs Solar Cells ◽

Transparent Conducting Electrodes

CIGS solar cells fabricated with different types of AZO/metal/AZO (AZO/Cu/AZO, AZO/Mo/AZO and AZO/Cu–Mo/AZO) transparent conducting electrodes.

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Modeling of Abnormal Hysteresis in CsPbBr3 based Perovskite Solar Cells

Journal of Ravishankar University (Part-B) ◽

10.52228/jrub.2021-34-1-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 01-08

Author(s):

B GopalKrishna ◽

Sanjay Tiwari

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Simulation Study ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Layer Structure ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Perovskite Solar Cells ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Perovskite Layer

Perovskite solar cells are emerging photovoltaic devices with PCE of above 25%. Perovskite are suitable light absorber materials in solar cells with excellent properties like appropriate band gap energy, long carrier lifetime and diffusion length, and high extinction coefficient. Simulation study is an important technique to understand working mechanisms of perovskites solar cells. The study would help develop efficient, stable PSCs experimentally. In this study, modeling of perovskite solar cell was carried out through Setfos software. The optimization of different parameters of layer structure of solar cell would help to achieve maximum light absorption in the perovskite layer of solar cell. Simulation study is based drift-diffusion model to study the different parameters of perovskite solar cell. Hysteresis is one of the factors in the perovskite solar cell which may influence the device performance. The measurement of abnormal hysteresis can be done by current-voltage curve during backward scan during simulation study. In backward scan, the measurement starts from biasing voltage higher than open circuit voltage and sweep to voltage below zero. The numerical simulation used to study the various parameters like open circuit voltage, short circuit current, fill factor, power conversion efficiency and hysteresis. The simulation results would help to understand the photophysics of solar cell physics which would help to fabricate highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells experimentally.

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