High efficiency nanoparticle solution-processed Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 solar cells

Thin film Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2-based (generally referred to as CIGS) solar cells represent a promising alternative to conventional crystalline silicon solar cells due to their high efficiencies, reduced cost and better material utilisation. In recent years it has been demonstrated that it is possible to form thin films by annealing nanoparticulate material such that the nanoparticles coalesce to form large grained thin films. In this paper, we present a 13.8 % efficient CIGS solar cell derived from printed nanoparticle inks. The approach was successfully extended to fabricate monolithic devices on larger substrates. These results demonstrate that low-cost, non-vacuum printing of CIGS nanoparticles has great potential to achieve high efficiencies and reduce the performance gap with the more traditional vacuum co-evaporation and sputtering techniques.