Polycrystalline CdSeTe CdTe Absorber Cells with 28 mA cm2 Short-Circuit Current.pdf (681.39 kB)
Download filePolycrystalline CdSeTe/CdTe Absorber Cells With 28 mA/cm2 Short-Circuit Current
journal contribution
posted on 2018-03-12, 14:20 authored by Amit Munshi, Jason M. Kephart, Ali AbbasAli Abbas, John Raguse, Jean-Nicolas Beaudry, Kurt L. Barth, James Sites, Michael WallsMichael Walls, Walajabad S. SampathIEEE An 800 nm CdSeTe layer was added to the CdTe absorber used in high-efficiency CdTe cells to increase the current and produce an increase in efficiency. The CdSeTe layer employed had a band-gap near 1.41 eV, compared with 1.5 eV for CdTe. This lower band-gap enabled a current density increase from approximately 26 to over 28 mA & #x002F;cm2. The open-circuit voltage obtained in the high-efficiency CdTe-only device was maintained and the fill-factor remained close to 80 & #x0025;. Improving the short-circuit current density and maintaining the open-circuit voltage lead to device efficiency over 19 & #x0025;. External quantum efficiency implied that about half the current was generated in the CdSeTe layer and half in the CdTe. Cross-sectional STEM and EDS showed good grain structure throughout. Diffusion of Se into the CdTe layer was observed. This is the highest efficiency polycrystalline CdTe photovoltaic device demonstrated by a university or national laboratory.
Funding
The CSU authors thank support from NSF’s Accelerating Innovation Research, DOE’s SunShot and NSF’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Center programs. The Loughborough authors are grateful to EPSRC for funding through the Supergen SuperSolar Hub.
History
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