High efficiency CdTe solar cells with a through-thickness polycrystalline CdTe thin film

RSC Advances ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (57) ◽  
pp. 52326-52333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Shen ◽  
Zhizhong Bai ◽  
Yi Deng ◽  
Ruilong Yang ◽  
Dezhao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Growth Mechanism ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Cdte Thin Film ◽  
Preferential Growth ◽  
Cdte Solar Cells ◽  
Crystalline Growth

CdTe preferential growth with through-thickness grains has been achieved. A crystalline growth mechanism assisted by an oxide liquid phase is proposed.

CdTe Thin-Film Solar Cells

MRS Bulletin ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 45-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Suntola
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Cadmium Telluride ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Thick Layer ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Cdte Thin Film ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Cell Structures

Cadmium telluride is currently the most promising material for high efficiency, low-cost thin-film solar cells. Cadmium telluride is a compound semiconductor with an ideal 1.45 eV bandgap for direct light-to-electricity conversion. The light absorption coefficient of CdTe is high enough to make a one-micrometer-thick layer of material absorb over 99% of the visible light. Processing homogenous polycrystalline thin films seems to be less critical for CdTe than for many other compound semiconductors. The best small-area CdTe thin-film cells manufactured show more than 15% conversion efficiency. Large-area modules with aperture efficiencies in excess of 10% have also been demonstrated. The long-term stability of CdTe solar cell structures is not known in detail or in the necessary time span. Indication of good stability has been demonstrated. One of the concerns about CdTe solar cells is the presence of cadmium which is an environmentally hazardous material.

First-principles Study of Back Contact Effects on CdTe Thin Film Solar Cells

2010 ◽  
Vol 1268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mao-Hua Du
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
First Principles ◽  
Cell Performance ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Back Contact ◽  
Cdte Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cell Performance ◽  
Cdte Solar Cells ◽  
P Type

AbstractForming a chemically stable low-resistance back contact for CdTe thin film solar cells is critically important to the cell performance. This paper reports theoretical study of the effects of the back contact material, Sb2Te3, on the performance of the CdTe solar cells. First-principles calculations show that Sb impurities in p-type CdTe are donors and can diffuse with low diffusion barrier. There properties are clearly detrimental to the solar cell performance. The Sb segregation into the grain boundaries may be required to explain the good efficiencies for the CdTe solar cells with Sb2Te3 back contacts.

HIGH EFFICIENCY THIN FILM CdS/CdTe SOLAR CELLS†

1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 121-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. L. CHU ◽  
SHIRLEY S. CHU
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Cdte Solar Cells

scholarly journals Effect ofIn SituThermal Annealing on Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of CdS/CdTe Thin Film Solar Cells Fabricated by Pulsed Laser Deposition

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alaa Ayad Al-mebir ◽  
Paul Harrison ◽  
Ali Kadhim ◽  
Guanggen Zeng ◽  
Judy Wu
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Thin Films ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Pulsed Laser Deposition ◽  
Pulsed Laser ◽  
Laser Deposition ◽  
Thin Film Solar Cells ◽  
Cdte Thin Film ◽  
Cdte Solar Cells ◽  
Cdte Thin Films

Anin situthermal annealing process (iTAP) has been introduced before the commonex situcadmium chloride (CdCl2) annealing to improve crystal quality and morphology of the CdTe thin films after pulsed laser deposition of CdS/CdTe heterostructures. A strong correlation between the two annealing processes was observed, leading to a profound effect on the performance of CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells. Atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy show that the iTAP in the optimal processing window produces considerable CdTe grain growth and improves the CdTe crystallinity, which results in significantly improved optoelectronic properties and quantum efficiency of the CdS/CdTe solar cells. A power conversion efficiency of up to 7.0% has been obtained on thin film CdS/CdTe solar cells of absorber thickness as small as 0.75 μm processed with the optimal iTAP at 450°C for 10–20 min. This result illustrates the importance of controlling microstructures of CdTe thin films and iTAP provides a viable approach to achieve such a control.

scholarly journals A Theoretical Model for Voltage-Dependent Photocurrent Collection in CdTe Solar Cells

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1615
Author(s):  
Cindy X. Zhao ◽  
Ken K. Chin
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Experimental Data ◽  
Solar Cells ◽  
Solar Cell ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Output Voltage ◽  
Collection Efficiency ◽  
Cdte Thin Film ◽  
Doping Density ◽  
Cdte Solar Cells

The classic solar cell model assumes that the photo-generated current is a constant, independent of the cell’s output voltage. Experimental data of CdTe solar cells, however, show that the photocurrent collection efficiency decreases with the increase of the cell’s output voltage. In this work, we proposed a theoretical model for the CdTe thin-film cell, which assumes that the loss of photocurrent in the CdTe absorber is primarily due to the minority carrier recombination in the neutral region and at the back contact. By solving the neutral region’s diffusion equation, with proper boundary conditions, we have obtained the analytical expressions of the photocurrent collection efficiency and the cell’s J-V performance. Our theoretical results agree well with the experimental data. According to our theoretical model, the CdTe thin-film solar cell has an optimized p-doping level. A higher doping density may not be always good for a CdTe solar cell due to the reduced depletion width and decreased photocurrent at normal operation voltage, although the higher doping density can improve the open-circuit voltage by increasing built-in voltage.

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