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The effects of post-deposition CdCl2 annealing temperature on the electronic properties of CdTe solar cells were investigated. CdTe devices incorporate Mg doped ZnO as a buffer layer and selenization using a CdSe interlayer for reducing the buffer/absorber interface recombination and increasing solar energy absorption respectively. The post-deposition CdCl2 annealing treatments were done under separate, inert atmospheres of nitrogen and helium across the temperature range 380–430 °C. Electrical characterization of devices is carried out including temperature dependent current-voltage characteristics, admittance spectroscopy, and Shockley-Read-Hall recombination analysis. The best improvements in device efficiency are obtained upon annealing at temperature 410 °C. This anneal correlated with reduced back contact barrier in CdTe and reduced grain-boundary barrier height which is beneficial for enhanced charge transport.

Electronic properties of a CdTe solar cell are reported using temperature-dependent capacitance spectroscopy and current-voltage characteristics, the latter in dark and illuminated conditions. The baseline solar cell material stack investigated is comprised of soda-lime-glass/SnO2:F/SnO2/CdS:O-buffer/CdTe-absorber/Cu/Au. Device properties are compared with CdTe solar cells in which the back surface was hydroiodic acid etched, before the back-contact formation, and a CdTe device in which Mg-doped ZnO (MZO) replaces buffer layers. Reduced back-contact barrier height and grain boundary barrier height are observed in the hydroiodic acid treated CdTe cell. Improved device performance in the MZO-based CdTe device is attributed to reduced emitter/absorber interface recombination when using the MZO window layer.

Band offsets at the back contact and front window layer in CdTe-based solar cells affect photovoltaic performance and challenge standard characterization methods. By analyzing the temperature and excitation dependence of both open circuit voltage and absolute photoluminescence intensity, we show that the effects band offsets can be separated from the effects of recombination and shunting. Solar cells were grown with MgZnO window layers and compared to cells with CdS window layers containing varying amounts of oxygen. It was demonstrated that band alignment rather than reduced recombination velocity is the reason for the success of MgZnO as a front interface contact. An assortment of thin back contact interlayers were also deposited, and a PbTe interlayer showed some promise as an Ohmic contact to the CdTe, though it appears to induce a photoconductive shunt. Finally, we show that the shunting resistance given by a standard current-voltage curve technique generally does not represent a physically meaningful quantity unless it is well below one kiloOhm square cm.

Sb2Se3 is a promising candidate for low toxicity, low-cost and high efficiency solar cells. Thin film solar cells employing Sb2Se3 as the absorber have achieved power conversion efficiencies of up to 6.5%. However, these solar cells are typically fabricated using rapid thermal evaporation, a fast deposition technique but suffer from entangled substrate and source temperatures. Here, we report on the fabrication of stable and efficient CdS/Sb2Se3 thin film solar cells using close-space sublimation process, which allows separate control of the source and substrate temperatures. This enables better control of Sb2Se3 film deposition and reduction of interfacial diffusion, leading to higher quality absorber films and improved device heterojunctions. Additionally, we introduced a novel low-cost material 4,4',4'',4'''-(9-octylcarbazole-1,3,6,8-tetrayl)tetrakis(N,N-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)aniline) (CZ-TA) as the hole transport layer (HTL) to create n-i-p structured devices. This CZ-TA HTL reduced the back contact resistance and promoted photogenerated carrier collection, boosting device photo conversion efficiency to 6.84%.

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is a new thin film photovoltaic material and has received great research attention these days. ZnO, a nontoxic and wide bandgap material, has been successfully applied as the buffer layer in Sb2Se3 solar cells. Device with high efficiency and exceptional stability has been obtained, and ZnO is thus regarded as the most-promising buffer layer for Sb2Se3 photovoltaics. Herein we reported a simple sol–gel method to deposit ZnO film and construct ZnO/Sb2Se3 heterojunction solar cells. We applied one-step annealing process to obtain smooth and compact ZnO and ZnO/Zn1−xMgxO thin films. We revealed that 10% Mg content was optimal for the sandwiched Zn1−xMgxO layer and finally obtained 4.45% device performance. Through careful characterization, we found out that the insertion of Zn0.9Mg0.1O upshifted the Fermi-level, leading to higher built-in potential (VBi) and consequently larger open circuit voltage (VOC); it also promoted [2 2 1] orientation in Sb2Se3 films and reduced interfacial defects of PN junction, enhancing short-circuit current density (JSC).

PbS quantum dot solar cells are promising candidates for low-cost and highly efficient light harvesting devices owing to their solution processability and bandgap tunability. The p-type ethanedithiol (EDT) treated PbS quantum dot film plays an important role in PbS quantum dot solar cells with an n-i-p junction device structure. However, despite their sulphur-rich surface the EDT-treated PbS quantum dot film still have a relatively low carrier concentration. Higher carrier concentrations in this layer are desirable to extend depletion regions and improve hole extraction. Also imbalances in the charge mobility between the intrinsic layer and the p-type layer may lead to charge build-up at this interface. These obstacles limit further improvement of the device performance. Herein, we utilize EDT-treated Ag-doped PbS quantum dots as a p-type layer to fabricate PbS quantum dot photovoltaic cells. The carrier carrier concentration, mobility and band extrema as well as Fermi energy levels of Ag doped PbS quantum dot film can be tailored by tuning the Ag/Pb mole ratio from 0.0% to 2.0% during fabrication. The device performance has been significantly improved from 9.1% to 10.6% power conversion efficiency largely due to improvements in carrier concentration in the PbS-EDT layer through the incorporation of silver impurities.

Bifacial solar cells have the potential to increase the energy yield per unit area over traditional monofacial devices without significant added cost, driving $/kWh costs lower and accelerating the adoption of solar photovoltaics. However, the performance of bifacial thin film solar cells significantly lags that achieved by crystalline silicon cells. Here we incorporate wide bandgap CuxAlOy as a back buffer layer for CdTe devices and achieve a backside illuminated device with high current density and high fill factor. Moreover, these values remain nearly constant even as the absorber layer thickness changes, indicating that a fully-depleted device is not required for efficient charge collection. We show that this response is indicative of a back surface field, albeit with a persistent high back surface recombination velocity. By managing electron reflection, we achieved a backside illumination conversion efficiency of 7.1% and bifaciality of 0.55 for a 3.3 µm CdTe device and 8.0% and 0.62 for a 2 µm device. Future improvements can be made by identifying and incorporating a passivation material that reduces the back surface recombination velocity.

Bi2S3 is a promising inorganic material for thin film photovoltaic application with optimum direct band gap of ~1.3 eV, strong absorption coefficient, nontoxic and simple composition. Here we introduce rapid thermal evaporation (RTE), a method with simple facility and extremely fast deposition speed, to produce high quality Bi2S3 films. By optimizing the substrate temperature and post-annealing process, well-crystalline, smooth and compact Bi2S3 films were obtained. The band gap, doping type and density, and photosensitivity of as-produced Bi2S3 films were revealed by a combined X-ray diffraction, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectrum, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Hall effect and photoresponse measurements. Finally, a prototypical ITO/NiO/Bi2S3/Au solar cell with 0.75% power conversion efficiency was obtained, manifesting the promise of Bi2S3 as the absorber layer for thin film photovoltaics.

The incorporation of copper (Cu) is one of the critical processes for fabricating high-efficiency CdTe thin-film solar cells. However, due to its high mobility in CdTe, the distribution and concentration of Cu must be carefully engineered to reduce the compensative donor-like interstitial defects in CdTe bulk and the recombination centers at the buffer layer/CdTe interface to maximize device performances. Here, a cuprous chloride (CuCl) solution treatment and a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process are used to control the concentration and distribution of Cu in CdTe absorbers, enabling a champion CdTe thin-film solar cell with a power conversion efficiency of 17.5% without selenium incorporation. The results demonstrate that the use of a CuCl solution can substantially reduce the amount of Cu needed in CdTe and the RTA process is a viable approach to engineer the Cu distribution in CdTe solar cells.