Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells and mini-modules fabricated on thin soda-lime glass substrates

2013 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 163-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigenori Furue ◽  
Shogo Ishizuka ◽  
Akimasa Yamada ◽  
Masayuki Iioka ◽  
Hirofumi Higuchi ◽  
...  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng-cheng Huang ◽  
Chia-ho Huang ◽  
Mao-yong Lin ◽  
Chia-ying Chou ◽  
Chun-yao Hsu ◽  
...  

Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as a back contact for CIGS-based solar cells. This paper determines the optimal settings for the sputtering parameters for an Mo thin film prepared on soda lime glass substrates, using direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering, with a metal Mo target, in an argon gas environment. A Taguchi method with an L9orthogonal array, the signal-to-noise ratio, and an analysis of variances is used to determine the performance characteristics of the coating operation. The main sputtering parameters, such as working pressure (mTorr), dc power (W), and substrate temperature (°C), are optimized with respect to the structural features, surface morphology, and electrical properties of the Mo films. An adhesive tape test is performed on each film to determine the adhesion strength of the films. The experimental results show that the working pressure has the dominant effect on electrical resistivity and reflectance. The intensity of the main peak (110) for the Mo film increases and the full width at half maximum decreases gradually as the sputtering power is increased. Additionally, the application of an Mo bilayer demonstrates good adherence and low resistivity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weimin Li ◽  
Xia Yan ◽  
Armin G. Aberle ◽  
Selvaraj Venkataraj

Molybdenum (Mo) thin films are widely used as rear electrodes in copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. The challenge in Mo deposition by magnetron sputtering lies in simultaneously achieving good adhesion to the substrates while retaining the electrical and optical properties. Bilayer Mo films, comprising five different thickness ratios of a high pressure (HP) deposited bottom layer and a low pressure (LP) deposited top layer, were deposited on 40 cm × 30 cm soda-lime glass substrates by DC magnetron sputtering. We focus on understanding the effects of the individual layer properties on the resulting bilayer Mo films, such as microstructure, surface morphology, and surface oxidation. We show that the thickness of the bottom HP Mo layer plays a major role in determining the micromechanical and physical properties of the bilayer Mo stack. Our studies reveal that a thicker HP Mo bottom layer not only improves the adhesion of the bilayer Mo, but also helps to improve the film crystallinity along the preferred [110] direction. However, the surface roughness and the porosity of the bilayer Mo films are found to increase with increasing bottom layer thickness, which leads to lower optical reflectance and a higher probability for oxidation at the Mo surface.


Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1699
Author(s):  
Dipendra Adhikari ◽  
Maxwell M. Junda ◽  
Corey R. Grice ◽  
Sylvain X. Marsillac ◽  
Robert W. Collins ◽  
...  

Nanocrystalline hydrogenated silicon (nc-Si:H) substrate configuration n-i-p solar cells have been fabricated on soda lime glass substrates with active absorber layers prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The cells with nanocrystalline PECVD absorbers and an untextured back reflector serve as a baseline for comparison and have power conversion efficiency near 6%. By comparison, cells with sputtered absorbers achieved efficiencies of about 1%. Simulations of external quantum efficiency (EQE) are compared to experimental EQE to determine a carrier collection probability gradient with depth for the device with the sputtered i-layer absorber. This incomplete collection of carriers generated in the absorber is most pronounced in material near the n/i interface and is attributed to breaking vacuum between deposition of layers for the sputtered absorbers, possible low electronic quality of the nc-Si:H sputtered absorber, and damage at the n/i interface by over-deposition of the sputtered i-layer during device fabrication.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 115020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Hua Huang ◽  
Hung-Lung Cheng ◽  
Wei-En Chang ◽  
Ming Yi Huang ◽  
Yi-Jiunn Chien

Solar Energy ◽  
2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sachin S. Kulkarni ◽  
Jyoti S. Shirolikar ◽  
Neelkanth G. Dhere

Rapid thermal processing (RTP) provides a way to rapidly heat substrates to an elevated temperature to perform relatively short duration processes, typically less than 2–3 minutes long. RTP can be utilized to minimize the process cycle time without compromising process uniformity, thus eliminating a bottleneck in CuIn1-xGaxSe2-ySy (CIGSS) module fabrication. Some approaches have been able to realize solar cells with conversion efficiencies close or equal to those for conventionally processed solar cells with similar device structures. Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) PV Materials Lab has developed excellent facilities for the preparation of CIGSS thin-film solar cells. A RTP reactor for preparation of CIGSS thin films on 10 cm × 10 cm substrates has been designed, assembled and tested at the FSEC PV Materials Lab. This paper describes the synthesis and characterization of CIGSS thin-film solar cells by RTP technique. Materials characterization of these films was done by SEM, XEDS, XRD, AES, EPMA and electrical characterization was done by current-voltage measurements on soda lime glass substrates by RTP technique. Encouraging results were obtained during the first few experimental sets, demonstrating that reasonable solar cell efficiencies (up to 9%) can be achieved with relatively shorter cycle times, lower thermal budgets and without using toxic gases.


2014 ◽  
Vol 118 (30) ◽  
pp. 16479-16485 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. R. Asoka Kumara ◽  
C. S. Kumara Ranasinghe ◽  
E. Nirmada Jayaweera ◽  
H. M. Navaratne Bandara ◽  
Masayuki Okuya ◽  
...  

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