Alternative Processing Methods and Materials for Thin Film Chalcogenide Solar Cells

Download or read book Alternative Processing Methods and Materials for Thin Film Chalcogenide Solar Cells written by Benjamin D. Weil and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CIGS is currently the highest efficiency chalcogenide absorber, with a record cell efficiency of 20.3%. One of the main challenges of CIGS manufacturing is reducing costs and scaling up manufacturing. The use of toxic elements (Se, Te, Cd) and rare earth elements (In, Te) further complicates the materials processing. The development of non-toxic, earth abundant materials to replace these technologies is underway. Furthermore, there is a need to develop scalable and high-throughput manufacturing techniques that could reduce costs and improve manufacturing of chalcogenide solar cells. Solution-based deposition techniques are widely considered to be a route to low-cost, high-throughput photovoltaic device fabrication. Nanoparticle based inks are one means of achieving low-cost and high-throughput solution-processed devices. I study the properties of CuInS2 nanoparticles and their application to solar cell fabrication. I also establish a methodology for a highly scalable deposition process and report the synthesis of an air-stable, vulcanized ink from commercially available precursors. Using this air-stable solution process, solar cells are made with an absorber layer that is flat, contaminant-free, and composed of large-grained CuInS2. I demonstrate an initial power efficiency of 2.15%. To address the challenge of reducing elemental toxicity and the use of rare elements in chalcogenide solar cells, I will discuss some alternative absorbers that don't contain Indium, Cadmium, Tellurium, or Selenium. I demonstrate a 2.2% Cu2SnS3/CdS solar cell using rapid thermal processing and address the challenges facing this material to improve efficiency.