Growth techniques used to develop CDS/CDTE thin film solar cells: a review

Abstract

The method used to grow thin film CdS/CdTe solar cells has been described. Electronic material layers usually grow in three different modes; layer-by-layer growth mode, layer and cluster growth mode (Stransky-Krastanov) and cluster formation growth mode. Techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) called melt growth or Bridgman are well known as high quality semiconductor growth techniques. One of the limitations of these techniques is the inability for manufacturing macro-electronic devices (~area 1m 2 ) such as photovoltaic (PV) panels and large area display devices. To grow large area thin film (semiconductors), growth techniques such as close space sublimation (CSS), electrodeposition (ED), sputtering, spray pyrolysis etcetera have been tested and employed. This paper reviews in depth most of these techniques with more emphasis on the electrodeposition method because of it is simplicity and low cost.

Electrochemical Reduction of Cadmium Ions From Ethylene Glycol Electrolyte

“…Recently, there has been a need to develop methods for obtaining new generations of solar cells used as anode materials in the form of thin films and nanostructures based on cadmium. Analysis of the literature revealed a number of works devoted to the electrolytic reduction of cadmium and the preparation of its chalcogenides from various electrolytes [1,2,[8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…The paper [9] describes methods for growing ( [9]) thin-film CdS/CdTe solar cells. The authors have analyzed the methods of growing layers of electronic material, which are usually grown in three ways; layered growth mode, layered and cluster growth mode and growth mode with the formation of clusters.…”

All spray pyrolysis-coated CdTe–TiO2 heterogeneous films for photo-electrochemical solar cells

“…While the other electrochemical solar cells experience major problems in terms of stability and photo-absorption, CdTe thin film can be considered as a highly stable which can be used to harvest photons in the visible spectral energy window. Various material processing techniques including close space sublimation, chemical bath deposition, and metal organic chemical vapor deposition are effectively utilized to deposit CdTe thin films for solar cell applications [17][18][19][20]. CdTe solar cell module with 16.5%…”

“…CdTe thin-film solar cells employ Cu as a back contact and it has been observed that Cu diffusion through the grain boundaries of CdTe is one of the major issue affecting its performance and stability to an extent [25]. Various deposition methods have been employed to coat CdTe thin films for energy-harvesting applications [17,19]. Specifically, quantum-confined CdTe was coated on TiO 2 by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction and reasonable photovoltaic performance values were reported [10].…”