Advanced solar materials for thin-film photovoltaic cells

Abstract

As one of the most promising solutions for the green energy, thin-film photovoltaic cell technology is still immature and far from large-scale industrialization. The major issue is getting low cost and stable module efficiency. To solve these problems, a large amount of advanced solar materials have been developed to improve all parts of solar cell modules. Here, some new solar material developments applied in different critical parts of chalcogenide thin-film photovoltaic cells are reviewed. The main efforts are focused on improving light trapping and antireflection, internal quantum efficiency and collection of photo-generated carriers.

Transition from Photoconductivity to Photovoltaic Effect in P3HT/CuInSe2 Composites

“…We find that surface trap states that are characteristic of these NCs are a limiting factor in their performance. CuInSe 2 is known to have a good performance in thin-film solar cells, 39,40 and it appears to be less toxic than other NCs currently being studied. 41−45 Sariciftci and co-workers previously investigated blends of P3HT with CuInSe 2 nanoparticles for photovoltaic applications, 46 and Wan et al studied blends of hexagonal CuInSe 2 nanoplates and a P3HT matrix for photodetector applications.…”

Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy investigation of the surface chemistry and treatments of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS)

“…The overall field has been reviewed in detail by both Todorov and Huang. [8,9] CdS however, limits the potential photo current due to its 2.4 eV band gap and presents toxicity concerns. [10] By some estimates the additional photocurrent that could be gained could improve overall performance 10% making >23% PCE devices.…”

Photovoltaic Studies of Cd1-xCoxS Based Electrochemical Cells

“…Thin film photovoltaics is one of the most promising possible solutions for the present energy crisis and is still immatured and far from the commercial utility [1][2][3][4][5][6] . Presently, solar cells are mainly made by using bulk silicon wafers.…”

“…Presently, solar cells are mainly made by using bulk silicon wafers. However, due to high cost of silicon wafer based solar cells thin film solar cell is one of the most practical approaches for solar energy conversion in near future [1][2][3][7][8][9][10][11] . One of the main challenges in solar energy research is to search for new advanced solar materials and to fabricate and develop a new methodology that can produce high quality thin films at low production cost and should yield stable module efficiency.…”

“…One of the main challenges in solar energy research is to search for new advanced solar materials and to fabricate and develop a new methodology that can produce high quality thin films at low production cost and should yield stable module efficiency. To achieve these goals, a variety of newer solar materials were proposed and many methods and hybrids thereof have been fabricated /developed with a focus on their high performance throughput and lower costs for the thin film solar cells [1][2][3][4][5][12][13][14][15] . Metal chalcogenides are proved to be the strong contender and have attracted a considerable attention owing to their efficient energy conversion ratio 1-6, 13, 16, 17 .…”