Modeling and optimization of a superstrate solar cell based on Cu2ZnSn(SxSe1-x)4/ZnS structure

Year 2017, Volume: 1 Issue: 2, 65 - 74, 08.11.2017

Abdelkader Aissat , Hahet Arbouz Jean Pierre Vilcot

https://doi.org/10.30521/jes.349137

Cited By: 3

Abstract

The
Kestrite semiconductor material Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ (CZTSe) is
believed to be a suitable candidate for replacing the CuIn_1-xGa_xSe₂
(CIGS) absorber for the abundance and the non-toxicity of its components.
However, the record efficiency of solar cells based on this material reaches
11% which is lower than the conversion efficiency of the CIGS based solar cell
for which the efficiency has reached 25%. The aim of this study is to model and
optimize the electrical performances of a superstrate type solar cell based on
the kestrite material Cu₂ZnSn(S_xSe_1-x)₄
(CZTSSe). The goal is to investigate the effect of mixing the sulfide (S) component with selenide
(Se) on the conversion efficiency η, band gap E_g open
circuit voltage V_oc, short circuit current density J_sc,
fill factor FF and maximum power density P of the device, through
the evaluation of their behavior as a function of the ratio S/(S+Se),
which represents the concentration of sulfur in the absorber material CZTSSe.
It is also shown in this work, through the calculation of the mismatch strain ε
at the interface between the absorber and the buffer layers, that the zinc
sulfide (ZnS) is a more appropriate buffer than cadmium sulfide (CdS) for the
CZTSSe absorber. The effect of strain at the interface buffer/absorber on the
bandgap energy of CZTSSe and then on the cell performances is evaluated. This
evaluation is based on the strain theory in order to obtain more realistic
results close to experimental results. It is noted that adding 72% of Sulfur in
the absorber material, meaning that x=0.72, increases the efficiency to
13.1% therefore an improvement of 21.3% is obtained compared to the efficiency
of the CZTSe solar cell with a strain equal to 0 meaning no deformation, Jsc=
15.35mA/cm², V_oc= 0.800 V, FF = 74.1% and P_max=9.45mW/cm².

Keywords

Thin film, CZTS, CZTSe Kestrites, Semiconductor, Solar cells

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