Brief Outlook on Top Cell Absorber of Silicon‐Based Tandem Solar Cells

Sharif, Muhammad Nauman; Yang, Jian; Zhang, Xiaokun; Tang, Yehua; Wang, Kefan

doi:10.1002/solr.202300156

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 220 publications

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“…随后, 中间带太阳能电池、热载流子太阳能电池、多激子太阳能电池和叠层(串联)太阳能电池等被人们提出并尝试超越单结太阳能电池SQ极限 [14][15][16] , 获得更高效的太阳能电池. 其中叠层太阳能电池被认为是最容易实现的选择, 且于1990年开始在航空航天器件中使用 [17] .…”

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Top cell design and optimization of all-chalcopyrite CuGaSe2/CuInSe2 two-terminal tandem solar cells

Zhong,

Zhang,

Lin

et al. 2024

Acta Phys. Sin.

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Solar cells have attracted much attention since they can convert solar energy directly into electricity, and have been widely utilized in manufacturing industry and people's daily life. Although the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of single-junction solar cells has gradually improved in recent years, its maximum efficiency is restricted by the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit of single-junction solar cells. To exceed the SQ limit and further obtain high efficiency solar cells, researchers have proposed the concept of tandem solar cells. In this work, a systematic theoretical study of chalcopyrite CuGaSe2/CuInSe2 tandem solar cells was carried out by combining first-principle calculations and SCAPS-1D device simulations. Firstly, the electronic structure, defect properties and corresponding macroscopic performance parameters of CuGaSe2 (CGS) were obtained by first-principles calculations, which were adopted as input parameters for subsequent device simulations of CGS solar cells. Subsequently, the simulations of single-junction CGS and CuInSe2 (CIS) solar cells were carried out using SCAPS-1D software, respectively. The simulation results for the single junction CIS solar cells are in good agreement with the experimental values. For single-junction CGS cells, the device simulations revealed that CGS single-junction solar cells had the highest short-circuit current (Jsc) and PCE at the growth condition of Cu-rich, Ga-rich and Se-poor chemical growth condition. Further optimization found that the open-circuit voltage (Voc) and PCE of CGS solar cells can be improved by replacing the electron transport layer (ETL) with ZnSe after the devices with the highest short-circuit current (Jsc). Finally, after the optimized CGS and CIS solar cells were connected in series with two-terminal (2T) monolithic tandem solar cell, the device simulation results show that under the growth temperature of 700 K and the growth environment of Cu-rich, Ga-rich, and Se-poor, with ZnSe as the ETL, the CGS thickness of 2000 nm and the CIS thickness of 1336 nm, the PCE of 2T monolithic CGS/CIS tandem solar cell can reach 28.91 %, which is higher than the recorded efficiency of the current single-junction solar cells, and shows a good application prospect.

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Top cell design and optimization of all-chalcopyrite CuGaSe2/CuInSe2 two-terminal tandem solar cells

Zhong,

Zhang,

Lin

et al. 2024

Acta Phys. Sin.

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“…Table 1 compiles a short list of published work on chalcogenide or chalcopyrite tandems. More detailed discussion can be found in reviews of the subject, for example [31,32] and [33].…”

Section: Research Directions Of Thin Film Tandem Absorber Candidates ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Thin film absorbers for tandem solar cells: an industrial perspective

Yu,

Los,

Xiong

2023

J. Phys. Energy

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Tandem solar cells have received a lot attention from academia and industrial researchers as the potential next-generation PV technology, with higher efficiency above the limit of single-junction solar cells. Thin-film/thin-film (TF/TF) tandems are attractive due to similar toolset and processes producing the top and bottom cells, which improve scalability and promote cost reduction compared to thin-film/wafer tandem technologies. TF/TF/tandems additionally offer more absorber bandgap flexibility that promotes photovoltaic conversion efficiency optimization. Many materials not suitable for single junction solar cells can be explored as tandem top or bottom cells. To assess the practical efficiency potential of tandem solar cells limited by non-ideal material and device quality, we present a Shockley-Queisser-like efficiency calculation for tandem devices consisting of non-ideal top and bottom cells and with a range of absorber band gaps. The non-ideality is introduced through an experimentally measurable external radiative quantum efficiency (ERE). We find that a range of top and bottom cell band gaps enabling the highest tandem efficiency shifts from the ideal Shockley-Queisser case and depends on the top and bottom cell ERE. Furthermore, tandem cell efficiency greater than 37% can be achieved with very modest top/bottom cell EREs, for example of only 0.008%/0.5% which is typical for CdTe/CIS cells. Our results indicate that high efficiency tandem solar cells have good probability to be manufactured at high volume within a foreseeable future, despite non-ideal material and device quality due to early stages of development or constraint by manufacturing requirements.Finally, we review a number of mature and emerging thin film absorber material candidates for tandem applications. We discuss properties of these materials and the corresponding device performance as well as the associated technological challenges. We concludes on the promise of each of these materials for tandem applications that is expected to provide guidance to the photovoltaic research community. 

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“…Hence, it is necessary to have a tuneable bandgap in SiC materials. [13] Experimentally SiC can be synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), vapor liquid solid (VLS), and physical vapor transport (PVT). [14][15][16][17] It has been shown that the conversion efficiency of the nonstoichiometric S x iC 1-x -based p-n junction can be improved by varying the reactant fluence ratio (R) in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tailoring Electronic Properties of 6H‐SiC with Different Composition of Silicon by First‐Principles Calculations

Sharif,

Yang,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Advcd Theory and Sims

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Silicon carbide (SiC) is used in a variety of applications including photovoltaic due to its high stability. The wide bandgap of SiC limits these applications and necessitates bandgap tuning toward lower energy for efficient solar absorption. In this regard, the electronic properties of highly stable SiC polytype 6H‐SiC are studied by first‐principles calculations. By varying the Si composition of 6H‐SiC the electronic properties are tailored. The calculated results show that increasing the Si composition of 6H‐SiC from 50% to 66.66% reduces the bandgap from 2.98 to 1.54 eV. It is observed that this reduction in bandgap occurs due to the addition of extra Si s/p orbitals which close the conduction band and valance band. From the electronic conductivity calculations, it is found that with increasing Si composition of 6H‐SiC the conductivity is improved due to higher hole density which can be verified by the spectrum peaks shifted toward near‐infrared and visible region.

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Brief Outlook on Top Cell Absorber of Silicon‐Based Tandem Solar Cells

Cited by 5 publications

References 220 publications

Top cell design and optimization of all-chalcopyrite CuGaSe<sub>2</sub>/CuInSe<sub>2</sub> two-terminal tandem solar cells

Top cell design and optimization of all-chalcopyrite CuGaSe<sub>2</sub>/CuInSe<sub>2</sub> two-terminal tandem solar cells

Thin film absorbers for tandem solar cells: an industrial perspective

Tailoring Electronic Properties of 6H‐SiC with Different Composition of Silicon by First‐Principles Calculations

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