Present status and future prospects of CIGSS thin film solar cells

Development of a hybrid sputtering/evaporation process for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells

“…It is well known that Na presence in the film has a beneficial effect on the PV performances of CIGS cells [1]. In this paper we report mainly results obtained on glass substrates which act as Na source.…”

“…The more popular method is based on the evaporation of the four components. Using evaporation higher efficiency has been obtained both at laboratory and industrial scale [1]. However, evaporation methods have demonstrated some limitation when large substrates are used and high throughput are requested [1].…”

Critical Condition in CuInAlSe2 Growth of Solar Cell Absorber

“…At 500 o C, Cu x Se quasi-liquid phase in Cu-rich condition has a high solubility of In and Ga for a high diffusion [7]. The Cu 2-x Se segregating at the surface and grain boundaries becomes a fluxing agent during the growth process and helps in the formation of large and compactly packed grains [8]. Thus, layers grown under Cu-rich conditions usually have substantially larger grains than those grown under Cu-poor conditions [9].…”

A new green synthesis method of CuInS2 and CuInSe2 nanoparticles and their integration into thin films

“…Chalcopyrite-type semiconductors have received a lot of interest in recent years for their potential use as photovoltaic materials for thin film-based solar cells (Dhere 2006;Kazmerski 2006). These chalcopyrite materials are called CIGS and usually correspond to the general formula Cu(In y Ga 1-y )S z Se 2-z (where y and z vary from 0 to 1 and 0 to 2, respectively).…”

“…The structure and fabrication process of these two ternary compounds are relatively simple, providing a desirable combination of low cost and high efficiency for thin film solar cells. This is particularly true when compared to their quaternary and pentanary homologs (Dhere 2006;Kazmerski 2006;Repins et al 2008). Calculation based on the solar spectrum distribution indicates that the highest efficiency solar cells are obtained with PV material having a bandgap between 1.2 and 1.8 eV, more specifically around 1.5 eV.…”