Modeling Metastability in CdTe Solar Cells Due to Cu Migration

Guo, Di; Brinkman, Daniel; Shaik, Abdul R.; Sankin, Igor; Krasikov, Dmitry; Ringhofer, Christian; Vasileska, Dragica

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-76599-0_11

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…However, "excess" Cu in CdTe is also associated with metastability and long-term performance degradation, including changes in the series resistance and fill factor. [16,17,18] Non Cu-containing compounds such as Sb 2 Te 3 , As 2 Te 3 , FeS 2 , MoO x , NiO x , and Ni-P have also been explored for back contacts. [8] However, the realization of loss-free, electron-reflecting, hole-transport layers that form Ohmic contacts remains an outstanding materials challenge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Search for New Back Contacts for CdTe Solar Cells

Gorai

Krasikov

Grover

et al. 2022

Preprint

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There is widespread interest in reaching the practical efficiency of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar cells, which suffer from significant open-circuit voltage loss due to high surface recombination velocity and Schottky barrier at the back contact. Here, we focus on back contacts in the superstrate configuration with the goal of finding new materials, that can provide improved passivation, electron reflection and hole transport properties compared to the commonly used material, ZnTe. We performed a computational search among 229 binary and ternary tetrahedrally-bonded structures using first-principles methods and transport models to evaluate critical materials design criteria, including phase stability, electronic structure, hole transport, band alignments, and p-type dopability. Through this search, we have identified several candidate materials and their alloys (AlAs, AgAlTe2, ZnGeP2, ZnSiAs2, CuAlTe2) that exhibit promising properties for back contacts. We hope these new material recommendations and associated guidelines will inspire new directions in hole transport layer design for CdTe solar cells.

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