Towards Better Understanding of High Efficiency Cd-free CIGS Solar Cells Using Atomic Layer Deposited Indium Sulfide Buffer Layers

2003 ◽  
Vol 763 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Naghavi ◽  
S. Spiering ◽  
M. Powalla ◽  
B. Canava ◽  
A. Taisne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Diffusion Processes ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Buffer Layers ◽  
Atomic Diffusion ◽  
Indium Sulfide ◽  
Cigs Thin Film ◽  
Cigs Solar Cells

AbstractThis paper presents optimization studies on the formation of cadmium free buffer layers for high efficiency copper indium diselenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells using a vapor phase route. Indium sulfide layers have been deposited on CIGS substrates by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) at substrate temperatures between 140 and 260 °C using indium acetylacetonate and hydrogen sulfide precursors. The parametric study of the deposition temperature shows an optimal value at about 220°C, leading to an efficiency of 16.4 % which is a technological breakthrough. The analysis of the device shows that indium sulfide layers give an improvement of the blue response of the cells as compared a standard CdS processed cell, due to a high apparent band gap (2.7-2.8 eV), higher open circuit voltages (up to 665 mV) and fill factor (78 %). This denotes high interface quality of the system. Atomic diffusion processes of sodium and copper in the buffer layer are evidenced.

scholarly journals Deposition Technologies of High-Efficiency CIGS Solar Cells: Development of Two-Step and Co-Evaporation Processes

Crystals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Hua Huang ◽  
Wen-Jie Chuang ◽  
Chun-Ping Lin ◽  
Yueh-Lin Jan ◽  
Yu-Chiu Shih
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Film Properties ◽  
Step Process ◽  
Metal Precursors ◽  
Stage Process ◽  
Cigs Solar Cells ◽  
Surface Morphologies ◽  
The Given

The two-step process including the deposition of the metal precursors followed by heating the metal precursors in a vacuum environment of Se overpressure was employed for the preparation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) films. The CIGS films selenized at the relatively high Se flow rate of 25 Å/s exhibited improved surface morphologies. The correlations among the two-step process parameters, film properties, and cell performance were studied. With the given selenization conditions, the efficiency of 12.5% for the fabricated CIGS solar cells was achieved. The features of co-evaporation processes including the single-stage, bi-layer, and three-stage process were discussed. The characteristics of the co-evaporated CIGS solar cells were presented. Not only the surface morphologies but also the grading bandgap structures were crucial to the improvement of the open-circuit voltage of the CIGS solar cells. Efficiencies of over 17% for the co-evaporated CIGS solar cells have been achieved. Furthermore, the critical factors and the mechanisms governing the performance of the CIGS solar cells were addressed.

Comprehensive Study of Light-Soaking Effect in ZnO/Cu(InGa)Se2 Solar Cells with Zn-Based Buffer Layers

2001 ◽  
Vol 668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sutichai Chaisitsak ◽  
Akira Yamada ◽  
Makoto Konagai
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Buffer Layer ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Buffer Layers ◽  
Window Layer ◽  
Layer Deposition ◽  
Cigs Thin Film ◽  
Zinc Diffusion ◽  
Zno Buffer Layer ◽  
Comprehensive Study

ABSTRACTThe light-soaking effect in ZnO/ Cu(InGa)Se2 (CIGS) based solar cells has been studied. A CIGS thin film with Cu(InGa)(SeS)2 surface layer was obtained by selenization (H2Se)/sulfurization (H2S). A high resistively ZnO buffer layer deposited by the atomic layer deposition technique was used as a buffer layer. We found that the light-soaking effect mainly correlates with the properties of the CIGS surface, rather than with the properties of the ZnO buffer/window layer. This phenomenon can be eliminated by surface etching or doping CIGS surface with Zinc. Zinc diffusion using diethylzinc gas has been proposed in this work. To date, we have achieved efficiency of 13.9% (Voc: 560 mV, Jsc: 35.0 mA/cm2, FF: 0.71) without light soaking effect.

scholarly journals Graded Carrier Concentration Absorber Profile for High Efficiency CIGS Solar Cells

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonino Parisi ◽  
Riccardo Pernice ◽  
Vincenzo Rocca ◽  
Luciano Curcio ◽  
Salvatore Stivala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Band Gap ◽  
Carrier Concentration ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Energy Gap ◽  
Short Circuit ◽  
Short Circuit Current ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Doping Density ◽  
Cigs Solar Cells

We demonstrate an innovative CIGS-based solar cells model with a graded doping concentration absorber profile, capable of achieving high efficiency values. In detail, we start with an in-depth discussion concerning the parametrical study of conventional CIGS solar cells structures. We have used the wxAMPS software in order to numerically simulate cell electrical behaviour. By means of simulations, we have studied the variation of relevant physical and chemical parameters—characteristic of such devices—with changing energy gap and doping density of the absorber layer. Our results show that, in uniform CIGS cell, the efficiency, the open circuit voltage, and short circuit current heavily depend on CIGS band gap. Our numerical analysis highlights that the band gap value of 1.40 eV is optimal, but both the presence of Molybdenum back contact and the high carrier recombination near the junction noticeably reduce the crucial electrical parameters. For the above-mentioned reasons, we have demonstrated that the efficiency obtained by conventional CIGS cells is lower if compared to the values reached by our proposed graded carrier concentration profile structures (up to 21%).

Development of Cu(InGa)Se2 Thin Film Solar Cells with Cd-Free Buffer Layers

1996 ◽  
Vol 426 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Konagai ◽  
Y. Ohtake ◽  
T. Okamoto
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Buffer Layer ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Buffer Layers ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Light Illumination ◽  
Solar Simulator ◽  
Cell Parameters ◽  
Cigs Thin Film

AbstractCu(InGa)Se2(CIGS) thin film absorbers were fabricated by a three-stage method using a coevaporation apparatus. As a Cd-free buffer layer, ZnSe, InxSe, GaxSey and ZnInxSey buffer layers have been deposited on the CIGS absorber continuously in the same apparatus. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was employed as a growth technique for ZnSe. This technique offers a good thickness control as well as a good surface coverage. By irradiating with a solar simulator, all the solar cell parameters increased drastically for the first 50 minutes of the irradiation and then saturated at longer irradiation times. This phenomenon did not appear for the cells with a CdS buffer layer. The best efficiency of ZnO/ZnSe/CIGS thin film solar cells with about 10 nm thick ZnSe buffer layer was 11.6%. On the other hand, ZnO/InxSey/CIGS thin film solar cells showed very stable characteristics under the light illumination, and initial measurements show an efficiency of 13.0%.

scholarly journals The Effect of ALD-Zn(O,S) Buffer Layer on the Performance of CIGSSe Thin Film Solar Cells

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 412
Author(s):  
Woo-Jin Choi ◽  
Wan Woo Park ◽  
Yangdo Kim ◽  
Chang Sik Son ◽  
Donghyun Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Atomic Layer Deposition ◽  
Good Control ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Buffer Layers ◽  
Glass Temperature ◽  
Layer Deposition ◽  
Pulse Ratio ◽  
First Results ◽  
Cigs Solar Cells

In this paper, we report the development of Cd-free buffers using atomic layer deposition (ALD) for Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2-based solar cells. The ALD process gives good control of thickness and the S/S +O ratio content of the films. The influence of the growth per cycle (GPC) and the S/(S+O) ratio, and the glass temperature of the atomic layer deposited Zn(O,S) buffer layers on the efficiency of the Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 solar cells were investigated. We present the first results from our work on cadmium-free CIGS solar cells on substrates with an aperture area of 0.4 cm2. These Zn(O,S) layers were deposited by atomic layer deposition at 120 °C with S/Zn ratios of 0.7, and layers of around 30 nm. The Zn(O,S) 20% (Pulse Ratio: H2S/H2O+H2S) process results in a S/Zn ratio of 0.7. We achieved independently certified aperture area efficiencies of 17.1% for 0.4 cm2 cells.

A review on atomic layer deposited buffer layers for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells: Past, present, and future

Solar Energy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 209 ◽  
pp. 515-537
Author(s):  
Soumyadeep Sinha ◽  
Dip K. Nandi ◽  
Pravin S. Pawar ◽  
Soo-Hyun Kim ◽  
Jaeyeong Heo
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Atomic Layer ◽  
Buffer Layers ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Cigs Thin Film

scholarly journals Characterization of Potential-Induced Degradation and Recovery in CIGS Solar Cells

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4628
Author(s):  
Solhee Lee ◽  
Soohyun Bae ◽  
Se Jin Park ◽  
Jihye Gwak ◽  
JaeHo Yun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cells ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Doping Concentration ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Cell Level ◽  
Alternative Energy Sources ◽  
Cigs Thin Film ◽  
Current Voltage ◽  
Cigs Solar Cells

The potential-induced degradation (PID) mechanism in Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)2 (CIGS) thin-film solar cells, which are alternative energy sources with a high efficiency (>23%) and upscaling possibilities, remains unclear. Therefore, the cause of PID in CIGS solar cells was investigated in this study at the cell level. First, an appropriate PID experiment structure at the cell level was determined. Subsequently, PID and recovery tests were conducted to confirm the PID phenomenon. Light current–voltage (I–V), dark I–V, and external quantum efficiency (EQE) analyses were conducted to determine changes in the cell characteristics. In addition, capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements were carried out to determine the doping concentration and width of the space charge region (SCR). Based on the results, the causes of PID and recovery of CIGS solar cells were explored, and it was found that PID occurs due to changes in the bulk doping concentration and built-in potential at the junction. Furthermore, by distinguishing the effects of temperature and voltage, it was found that PID phenomena occurred when potential difference was involved.

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