Flexible high-efficiency CZTSSe solar cells on stainless steel substrates

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (43) ◽  
pp. 24891-24899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwangseok Ahn ◽  
Se-Yun Kim ◽  
Sammi Kim ◽  
Dae-Ho Son ◽  
Seung-Hyun Kim ◽  
...  

Stainless steel (SS) foil is made of abundant materials and is a durable and flexible substrate, but the efficiency of a solar cell on SS foil deteriorates via the diffusion of impurities from the SS substrate into a Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) absorber layer.

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4667
Author(s):  
Laurentiu Fara ◽  
Irinela Chilibon ◽  
Ørnulf Nordseth ◽  
Dan Craciunescu ◽  
Dan Savastru ◽  
...  

This study is aimed at increasing the performance and reliability of silicon-based heterojunction solar cells with advanced methods. This is achieved by a numerical electro-optical modeling and reliability analysis for such solar cells correlated with experimental analysis of the Cu2O absorber layer. It yields the optimization of a silicon tandem heterojunction solar cell based on a ZnO/Cu2O subcell and a c-Si bottom subcell using electro-optical numerical modeling. The buffer layer affinity and mobility together with a low conduction band offset for the heterojunction are discussed, as well as spectral properties of the device model. Experimental research of N-doped Cu2O thin films was dedicated to two main activities: (1) fabrication of specific samples by DC magnetron sputtering and (2) detailed characterization of the analyzed samples. This last investigation was based on advanced techniques: morphological (scanning electron microscopy—SEM and atomic force microscopy—AFM), structural (X-ray diffraction—XRD), and optical (spectroscopic ellipsometry—SE and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy—FTIR). This approach qualified the heterojunction solar cell based on cuprous oxide with nitrogen as an attractive candidate for high-performance solar devices. A reliability analysis based on Weibull statistical distribution establishes the degradation degree and failure rate of the studied solar cells under stress and under standard conditions.


1996 ◽  
Vol 452 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Pemet ◽  
M. Goetz ◽  
H. Keppner ◽  
A. Shah

AbstractThe <p> μc-SiC:H / <i> a-Si:H junction can be considered to be a sub-system of a n/i/p solar cell. Optimised performance of this junction can be assumed to be a key feature for obtaining high efficiency solar cells.In this paper the authors present results on the conductivity of boron doped microcrystalline hydrogenated silicon (<p> μc-Si:H) thin films deposited on amorphous substrates (e.g. glass or glass/<i> a-Si:H). It is shown that, without any treatment of the substrate or of the underlying surface, the <p> layers showed a strongly reduced conductivity. This indicates either a bad nucleation or a poor microcrystalline behaviour. By using an appropriate surface treatment of the substrate, a gain in photoconductivity of about three orders of magnitude could be obtained (σ > 3 S/cm at a layer thickness of 400Å). We conclude from this, that for thin <p> type μc-Si:H layers the nucleation conditions are essential for obtaining best electric properties of the film w.r.t. solar cell performance.Based on these results, interface treatment was successfully implemented in n/i/p solar cells deposited on TCO coated glass and stainless steel. The results of these experiments are also presented.


Author(s):  
Samer H. Zyoud ◽  
Ahed H. Zyoud ◽  
Naser M. Ahmed ◽  
Atef Abdekader

Cadmium telluride (CdTe), a metallic dichalcogenide material, has been utilized as an absorber layer for thin film-based solar cells with appropriate configurations, and the SCAPS-1D structures program has been used to evaluate the results. In both known and developing thin film photovoltaic systems, a CdS thin film buffer layer has been frequently employed as a traditional n-type heterojunction partner. In this study, numerical simulation was used to find a suitable non-toxic material for the buffer layer instead of CdS, among various types of buffer layers (ZnSe, ZnO, ZnS, and In2S3), and carrier concentrations for the absorber layer (NA) and buffer layer (ND) were varied to determine the optimal simulation parameters. carrier concentrations (NA from 2 x 1012 cm-3 to 2 x 1017 cm-3 and ND from 1 x 1016 cm-3 to 1 x 1022 ??&minus;3) have been differed. The results showed that the CdS as buffer layer based CdTe absorber layer solar cell has the highest efficiency (?%) of 17.43%. Furthermore, high conversion efficiencies of 17.42% and 16.27% have been found for ZnSe and ZnO based buffer layers, respectively. As a result, ZnO and ZnSe are potential candidates for replacing the CdS buffer layer in thin-film solar cells. Here, the absorber (CdTe) and buffer (ZnSe) layers were chosen to improve the efficiency by finding the optimal density of the carrier concentration (acceptor and donor). The simulation findings above provide helpful recommendations for fabricating high-efficiency metal oxide-based solar cells in the lab.


1999 ◽  
Vol 557 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. B. Liao ◽  
J. Walker ◽  
X. Deng

AbstractIn high efficiency narrow bandgap (NBG) a-SiGe solar cells, thin buffer layers of unalloyed hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si) are usually used at the interfaces between the a-SiGe intrinsic layer and the doped layers. We investigated the effect of inserting additional a-SiGe interface layers between these a-Si buffer layers and the a-SiGe absorber layer. We found that such additional interface layers increase solar cell VOC and FF sizably, most likely due to the reduction or elimination of the abrupt bandgap discontinuity between the a-SiGe absorber layer and the a-Si buffer layers. With these improved narrow bandgap solar cells incorporated into the fabrication of triple-junction a-Si based solar cells, we obtained triple cells with initial efficiency of 10.6%.


Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samer H. Zyoud ◽  
Ahed H. Zyoud ◽  
Naser M. Ahmed ◽  
Atef F. I. Abdelkader

Cadmium telluride (CdTe), a metallic dichalcogenide material, was utilized as an absorber layer for thin film–based solar cells with appropriate configurations and the SCAPS–1D structures program was used to evaluate the results. In both known and developing thin film photovoltaic systems, a CdS thin–film buffer layer is frequently employed as a traditional n–type heterojunction partner. In this study, numerical simulation was used to determine a suitable non–toxic material for the buffer layer that can be used instead of CdS, among various types of buffer layers (ZnSe, ZnO, ZnS and In2S3) and carrier concentrations for the absorber layer (NA) and buffer layer (ND) were varied to determine the optimal simulation parameters. Carrier concentrations (NA from 2 × 1012 cm−3 to 2 × 1017 cm−3 and ND from 1 × 1016 cm−3 to 1 × 1022 cm−3) differed. The results showed that the use of CdS as a buffer–layer–based CdTe absorber layer for solar cell had the highest efficiency (%) of 17.43%. Furthermore, high conversion efficiencies of 17.42% and 16.27% were for the ZnSe and ZnO-based buffer layers, respectively. As a result, ZnO and ZnSe are potential candidates for replacing the CdS buffer layer in thin–film solar cells. Here, the absorber (CdTe) and buffer (ZnSe) layers were chosen to improve the efficiency by finding the optimal density of the carrier concentration (acceptor and donor). The simulation findings above provide helpful recommendations for fabricating high–efficiency metal oxide–based solar cells in the lab.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 592
Author(s):  
Myeong Sang Jeong ◽  
Yonghwan Lee ◽  
Ka-Hyun Kim ◽  
Sungjin Choi ◽  
Min Gu Kang ◽  
...  

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.


2006 ◽  
Vol 910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Wang ◽  
Matt P. Page ◽  
Eugene Iwancizko ◽  
Yueqin Xu ◽  
Yanfa Yan ◽  
...  

AbstractWe have achieved an independently-confirmed 17.8% conversion efficiency in a 1-cm2, p-type, float-zone silicon (FZ-Si) based heterojunction solar cell. Both the front emitter and back contact are hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) deposited by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD). This is the highest reported efficiency for a HWCVD silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cell. Two main improvements lead to our most recent increases in efficiency: 1) the use of textured Si wafers, and 2) the application of a-Si:H heterojunctions on both sides of the cell. Despite the use of textured c-Si to increase the short-circuit current, we were able to maintain the same 0.65 V open-circuit voltage as on flat c-Si. This is achieved by coating a-Si:H conformally on the c-Si surfaces, including covering the tips of the anisotropically-etched pyramids. A brief atomic H treatment before emitter deposition is not necessary on the textured wafers, though it was helpful in the flat wafers. It is essential to high efficiency SHJ solar cells that the emitter grows abruptly as amorphous silicon, instead of as microcrystalline or epitaxial Si. The contact on each side of the cell comprises a thin (< 5 nm) low substrate temperature (~100°C) intrinsic a-Si:H layer, followed by a doped layer. Our intrinsic layers are deposited at 0.3-1.2 nm/s. The doped emitter and back-contact layers were deposited at a higher temperature (>200°C) and grown from PH3/SiH4/H2 and B2H6/SiH4/H2 doping gas mixtures, respectively. This combination of low (intrinsic) and high (doped layer) growth temperatures was optimized by lifetime and surface recombination velocity measurements. Our rapid efficiency advance suggests that HWCVD may have advantages over plasma-enhanced (PE) CVD in fabrication of high-efficiency heterojunction c-Si cells; there is no need for process optimization to avoid plasma damage to the delicate, high-quality, Si wafers.


Author(s):  
F. Bonnín-Ripoll ◽  
Ya. B. Martynov ◽  
R. G. Nazmitdinov ◽  
G. Cardona ◽  
R. Pujol-Nadal

A thorough optical + electrical + Lambertian scattering analysis determines the optimal thickness of a perovskite thin-film solar cell revealing its high efficiency with inorganic HTMs.


Solar Energy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 230 ◽  
pp. 1033-1039
Author(s):  
Chen Zhang ◽  
Tongqing Qi ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Chenchen Zhao ◽  
Shuda Xu ◽  
...  

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