CuGaSe<sub>2</sub> Thin Film Solar Cells: Challenges for Developing Highly Efficient Wide‐Gap Chalcopyrite Photovoltaics

Ishizuka, Shogo

doi:10.1002/pssa.201800873

Cited by 27 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 84 publications

(172 reference statements)

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“…This may also allow avoiding collection losses (ie, IQE → 1) and therefore solve the problem of the rather low J SC values. Possible strategies are the application of an alkali‐PDT or the introduction of a surface passivation layer (eg, Al 2 O 3 ). Adding a post‐annealing step or increasing the absorber deposition temperature may have a beneficial effect as well.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wide‐gap (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with different buffer materials—A path to a better heterojunction

Keller

Sopiha

Stolt

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

139

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This contribution concerns the effect of the Ag content in wide‐gap AgwCu1‐wIn1‐xGaxSe2 (ACIGS) absorber films and its impact on solar cell performance. First‐principles calculations are conducted, predicting trends in absorber band gap energy (Eg) and band structure across the entire compositional range (w and x). It is revealed that a detrimental negative conduction band offset (CBO) with a CdS buffer can be avoided for all possible absorber band gap values (Eg = 1.0–1.8 eV) by adjusting the Ag alloying level. This opens a new path to reduce interface recombination in wide‐gap chalcopyrite solar cells. Indeed, corresponding samples show a clear increase in open‐circuit voltage (VOC) if a positive CBO is created by sufficient Ag addition. A further extension of the beneficial compositional range (positive CBO at buffer/ACIGS interface) is possible when exchanging CdS with Zn1‐ySnyOz, because of its lower electron affinity (χ). Nevertheless, the experimental results strongly suggest that at present, residual interface recombination still limits the performance of solar cells with optimized CBO, which show an efficiency of up to 15.1% for an absorber band gap of Eg = 1.45 eV.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wide‐gap (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with different buffer materials—A path to a better heterojunction

Keller

Sopiha

Stolt

et al. 2020

Progress in Photovoltaics

139

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“…With the promotion of global‐scale research, the high‐conversion efficiencies of solar cells are improved almost every year . Although there are many PV materials, such as crystalline Si, monocrystalline GaAs, and thin‐film polycrystalline Cu (In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS), defects are ubiquitous in solar cells owing to the inherently granular structure and specific procedures adopted for their manufacturing . Local defects not only result in the spatial nonuniformity of solar cells but also reduce the overall conversion efficiency .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absolute electroluminescence imaging with distributed circuit modeling: Excellent for solar‐cell defect diagnosis

Hong

Wang

Chen

et al. 2019

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Spatially resolved absolute electroluminescence (EL) imaging demonstrates the localized EL intensity and the uniformity of solar cells. Combined with two‐dimensional (2‐D) distributed circuit network modeling, detailed and important information that is contained in experimental data can be extracted for in‐depth understanding of solar cell performances. Herein, we measured the absolute EL images of three different solar cells (Si, GaAs, and Cu (In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS)) and observed the different injection‐current‐dependent EL intensities of the defect points (dark or bright) on the solar cells. The origins of these defects were attributed to different defect types according to our established 2‐D distributed equivalent circuit model. The results demonstrated that the combination of absolute EL imaging and distributed circuit modeling yielded accurate quantitative diagnoses of the electrical defects in solar cells.

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“…With the understanding of the tandem configuration with Si PV, from the literature, several absorber materials are identified with a bandgap between 1.6 and 1.8 eV, namely, CuGaSe 2 (CGSe), [ 58 ] ZnSnP 2 , [ 59–61 ] ZnSnN 2 , [ 62,63 ] and CdZnTe. [ 64 ] These materials seem exciting as suitable top cell absorbers and suggested further investigation.…”

Section: Tandem Solar Cells and Conceptual Insightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 90 ] Moreover, the carrier lifetime lies in the order of few tens of nanoseconds. [ 58 ] As the diffusion lengths of photocarriers are less than the absorption cross section and the carrier lifetime is low, the carriers must drift toward the junction/contacts for efficient collection. One needs to adapt/explore required charge collection strategies.…”

Section: Properties Of Cugase2mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comprehensive Perspective on the Fabrication of CuGaSe₂/Si Tandem Solar Cells

Prathapani

Zhan

2021

Energy Tech

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This review points out the current need for further research on tandem solar cells as the commercial single‐junction solar cell technologies report close to their maximum performance limit. First, the conceptual insight and the desired interconnection schemes for tandem solar cells are briefly presented. Then, a comprehensive discussion on the structural, optical, and electronic properties of CuGaSe2, evaluating its use as a top cell absorber material, is presented. Furthermore, the current status and the critical analysis of CuGaSe2 solar cells, which finds that the adapted conventional device architecture possesses severe limitations, are presented. Based on the drawbacks of the existing materials in use, new materials to fabricate CuGaSe2 solar cells are proposed. Also, tandem configurations with newly proposed CuGaSe2 solar cell architecture by choosing Si photovoltaics as bottom cells are devised. In the end, further challenges in the devised tandem configurations with a focus on their band alignments are elucidated.

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CuGaSe₂ Thin Film Solar Cells: Challenges for Developing Highly Efficient Wide‐Gap Chalcopyrite Photovoltaics

Cited by 27 publications

References 84 publications

Wide‐gap (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with different buffer materials—A path to a better heterojunction

Wide‐gap (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with different buffer materials—A path to a better heterojunction

Absolute electroluminescence imaging with distributed circuit modeling: Excellent for solar‐cell defect diagnosis

A Comprehensive Perspective on the Fabrication of CuGaSe₂/Si Tandem Solar Cells

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CuGaSe2 Thin Film Solar Cells: Challenges for Developing Highly Efficient Wide‐Gap Chalcopyrite Photovoltaics

Cited by 27 publications

References 84 publications

Wide‐gap (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with different buffer materials—A path to a better heterojunction

Wide‐gap (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with different buffer materials—A path to a better heterojunction

Absolute electroluminescence imaging with distributed circuit modeling: Excellent for solar‐cell defect diagnosis

A Comprehensive Perspective on the Fabrication of CuGaSe2/Si Tandem Solar Cells

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Product

Resources

About

CuGaSe₂ Thin Film Solar Cells: Challenges for Developing Highly Efficient Wide‐Gap Chalcopyrite Photovoltaics

Wide‐gap (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with different buffer materials—A path to a better heterojunction

Wide‐gap (Ag,Cu)(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells with different buffer materials—A path to a better heterojunction

A Comprehensive Perspective on the Fabrication of CuGaSe₂/Si Tandem Solar Cells