Emergence of flexible kesterite solar cells: progress and perspectives

Abstract

Flexible photovoltaics have been and will be increasingly in demand in modern and future society in various applications. Searching for ideal flexible photovoltaic technologies that can perfectly meet these expanding demands has long been an active branch of photovoltaic research. Flexible kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) has emerged in recent years owning to its great potential to be an abundant, low-cost, stable, and high-efficiency ‘green’ photovoltaic material that can be widely deployed with the lowest detrimental environmental impact. Here, we review the recent progress with flexible kesterite solar cells in thin-film and monograin technologies, discuss the key challenges and strategies associated with the flexible substrates, and finally provide the future perspectives on further pushing the efficiency toward commercial-competitive levels.

Harnessing solar power with aesthetic innovation: An in‐depth study on spherical and hemispherical photovoltaic configurations

“…Flexible PV technology has experienced a notable surge in demand within contemporary society and this trend is anticipated to continue to escalate across diverse applications in the future. 8,20 Flexible and transparent thin-film silicon solar cells have been meticulously engineered and refined, catering specifically to their integration within building structures, as well as for bifacial operational purposes. 21 Edmund et al 22 proposed a newly rooftop building-integrated PV design has the potential to meet 49.27% of a building's energy demands and reduce CO 2 emissions by 20,155.32 tones throughout the PV system's lifespan.…”

Environmentally Friendly Pathway to Kesterite Nanoparticles with Controlled Sn Content: An In-Depth Study of Magnetic and Optical Properties

“…Over the last few decades, significant advancements have been made in the performances of thin-film solar cells based on CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide), CIS (copper indium sulfide), and CdTe technology. − However, their reliance on expensive, toxic, and scarcely available elements like cadmium, tellurium, and indium poses environmental and economic challenges . In this context, kesterite Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) emerges as a highly promising inorganic semiconducting compound for the production of low-cost thin-film photovoltaic devices because it is composed of easily available, cheap, nonpoisonous, and earth-abundant elements. − Current performances of CZTS solar cells are well below the Shockley–Queisser limit, and this is usually ascribed to the presence of defects and secondary phases, which heavily reduce the open-circuit voltage of the device . In particular, lattice defects induce the so-called “band tailing”, − reducing the charge-carrier generation rate and favoring nonradiative recombination processes. , Even if the efficiencies of CZTS-based solar cells are lower compared to other technologies from the same family, the use of environmentally friendly materials allows targeting specific applications such as building-integrated photovoltaic, flexible, and agrivoltaic solar cells. , Moreover, characterization through advanced techniques can provide a deep understanding of defects in kesterites, unlocking their full potential and the development of efficient and affordable thin-film photovoltaic devices.…”

Formation and Characterization of Stable TiO2/CuxO-Based Solar Cells

“…One of the ways of development of photovoltaic cells concerns Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) thin films [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. CZTS has the band gap of ~1.50 eV, being a very close value to the best band gap required by a semiconductor solar cell (according to Shockley–Queisser theory) −1.4–1.45 eV [ 8 , 9 ].…”