Numerical study of the influence of ZnTe thickness on CdS/ZnTe solar cell performance

Skhouni, O.; Manouni, A. El; Marı́, B.; Ullah, Hanif

doi:10.1051/epjap/2015150365

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The input parameters of ZnO and CdS layers and of front and back contacts are the same as those used in our previous work [16]. Additional input parameters relative to IB-ZnTe:O absorber, P + -ZnTe layer and oxygen defect have been introduced [18,[24][25][26].…”

Section: Layer and Defect Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most is the class of highly-mismatched alloys, including quantum dots [8,9], dilute nitrides [10,11] and impurity doping semiconductors [5,12]. Zinc telluride compound ZnTe is one of semiconductors which attract most attention for low-cost photovoltaic conversion [13,14], however, solar cells based on this material have produced a limited theoretical photovoltaic conversion efficiency about 10% [15,16] due to its high bandgap and zinc vacancy native defects in ZnTe material. In order to increase the conversion efficiency new semiconductor materials with sub-band optical absorption have been proposed [5,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Boosting the Performance of Solar Cells with Intermediate Band Absorbers—The Case of ZnTe:O

Skhouni¹,

Manouni²,

Bayad³

et al. 2017

JEPE

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This work reports on modeling IB (intermediate band) solar cells based on ZnTe:O semiconductor and determination of their photovoltaic parameters using SCAPS (solar cell capacitance simulator) software. A comparative study between photovoltaic performance of ZnTe and ZnTe:O based solar cells has been carried out. It has been found that the energy conversion efficiency η, short-circuit current density J sc , EQE (external quantum efficiency) and FF (fill factor) increased with increasing oxygen doping concentration N t up to the shallow acceptor density N A and decreased when N t was higher than N A . The open circuit-voltage V oc remained constant for N t lower than the acceptor doping concentration N A and decreased for N t higher than N A . The increase of η, J sc and FF is due to the fact that IB is fully empted, so sub-bandgap photons can be absorbed by hole photoemission process from the VB (valence band) to the IB. The decrease of η, J sc , EQE and FF is attributed to overcompensation for the base doping N A making electron photoemission process from IB to the CB (conduction band) maximized. This indicates that there is a competition between oxygen doping and intrinsic acceptor defects. The optimal concentrations of oxygen and shallow acceptor carriers were found to be N t ≈ 10 15 cm -3 and N A ≈ 10 14 cm -3 . The corresponding photovoltaic parameters were η = 41.5%, J sc = 31.2 mA/cm 2 , V oc = 1.80 V and FF = 75.1%. Finally, the EQE spectra showed a blue shift of absorption edge indicating that the absorption process is extended to the sub-bandgap photons through IB.

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Section: Layer and Defect Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boosting the Performance of Solar Cells with Intermediate Band Absorbers—The Case of ZnTe:O

Skhouni¹,

Manouni²,

Bayad³

et al. 2017

JEPE

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“…The present work constitutes a continuity of our previous work concerning modeling and the optimization of solar cells based on ZnTe thin films by means of Solar Capacitance Simulator software SCAPS-1D [12]. It aims improving photovoltaic output characteristics of ZnTe based solar cells by optimizing its different layers and inserting of a P + -ZnTe layer at the back surface of ZnTe absorber in order to inhibit recombination loss at the back contact of cells.…”

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confidence: 99%

Influence of P+-ZnTe back surface contact on photovoltaic performance of ZnTe based solar cells

et al. 2018

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In order to improve photovoltaic performance of solar cells based on ZnTe thin films two device structures have been proposed and its photovoltaic parameters have been numerically simulated using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator software. The first one is the ZnO/CdS/ZnTe conventional structure and the second one is the ZnO/CdS/ZnTe/P +-ZnTe structure with a P +-ZnTe layer inserted at the back surface of ZnTe active layer to produce a back surface field effect which could reduce back carrier recombination and thus increase the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of cells. The effect of ZnO, CdS and ZnTe layer thicknesses and the P +-ZnTe added layer and its thickness have been optimized for producing maximum working parameters such as: open-circuit voltage Voc, short-circuit current density Jsc, fill factor FF, photovoltaic conversion efficiency η. The solar cell with ZnTe/P +-ZnTe junction showed remarkably higher conversion efficiency over the conventional solar cell based on ZnTe layer and the conversion efficiency of the ZnO/CdS/ZnTe/P +-ZnTe solar cell was found to be dependent on ZnTe and P +-ZnTe layer thicknesses. The optimization of ZnTe, CdS and ZnTe layers and the inserting of P +-ZnTe back surface layer results in an enhancement of the energy conversion efficiency since its maximum has increased from 10% for ZnO, CdS and ZnTe layer thicknesses of 0.05, 0.08 and 2 µm, respectively to 13.37% when ZnO, CdS, ZnTe and P +-ZnTe layer thicknesses are closed to 0.03, 0.03, 0.5 and 0.1 µm, respectively. Furthermore, the highest calculated output parameters have been Jsc = 9.35 mA/cm 2 , Voc = 1.81 V, η=13.37% and FF= 79.05% achieved with ZnO, CdS, ZnTe, and P +-ZnTe layer thicknesses about 0.03, 0.03, 0.5 and 0.1 µm, respectively. Finally, the spectral response in the long-wavelength region for ZnO/CdS/ZnTe solar cells has decreased at the increase of back surface recombination velocity. However, it has exhibited a red shift and showed no dependence of back surface recombination velocity for ZnO/CdS/ZnTe/P+-ZnTe solar cells.

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“…We have largely emphasized the complementarity of a crossed view between mathematics and physics as well as the path towards applications of technological breakdown such as nanomaterials for energy [1][2][3]. It included work on phase change materials [5][6][7] photovoltaic materials [8][9][10][11][12][13] and plant composites (biosourced materials) [14]. This special edition is a continuation and is intended as a snapshot of some advances at the material/energy interface.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nous y avons largement mis en exergue la complémentarité d'un regard croisé entre les mathématiques et la physique ainsi que le chemin vers des applications de rupture technologique comme les nanomatériaux pour l'énergie [2][3][4]. Elle incluait ainsi des travaux traitant de matériauxà changement de phase [5][6][7] de matériaux photovoltaïques [8][9][10][11][12][13] et de composites végétaux (matériaux biosourcés) [14]. La présenteédition spéciale s'inscrit dans la continuité et se veut une image instantanée de certaines avancéesà l'interface matériaux/énergie.…”

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Foreword: Materials for energy harvesting, conversion and storage (ICOME 2016)

Ganaoui

Nunzi

Bennacer

2017

Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys.

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The 2015 issue Materials for Energy Harvesting, Conversion and Storage [1] was the subject of a thematic opening on the coupling between materials and energy. We have largely emphasized the complementarity of a crossed view between mathematics and physics as well as the path towards applications of technological breakdown such as nanomaterials for energy [1][2][3]. It included work on phase change materials [5][6][7] photovoltaic materials [8][9][10][11][12][13] and plant composites (biosourced materials) [14]. This special edition is a continuation and is intended as a snapshot of some advances at the material/energy interface. It will also aim to stimulate the interest of young researchers in an investment from a multidisciplinary point of view in order to meet the new challenges presented by the open questions at the border of their own discipline.This approach is illustrated here in particular for problems of anisothermal fluid physics, heat and mass transfer in porous media, biosourced materials and their thermo-physical properties, towards thermodynamic cycles for alternative energies, exchangers for power plant exchangers, the theme of solar and photovoltaics, etc. These are applications where physics will continue to play a leading role in understanding the phenomena and developing new solutions. These subjects inevitably integrate societal choices that are increasingly influenced by the participatory citizenship. It requires to be extended to the fields of energy mutation, materials, their natural and omnipresent coupling, Impact on its economy, health and environment. Energy strategies are becoming a major issue for established and transforming democracies and a determining factor in peace and social justice in the world.Scientific methodology, increasingly benefiting from new algorithmic, numerical methods and material advances, is gaining relevance for experimentation and modeling in order to reach fine scales and unravel complex behaviors. These advances are sometimes made certain with a certain delay according to the disciplines. The introduction in this issue of the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) [15] deserves a freeze. This is a different view on the method of solving matter conservation problems treated by coupled partial differential equations. LBM completes the MD method and offers an alternative way of solving problems in a physically accessible way, and in this respect arouses the interest of many researchers in digital physics, especially for complex geometric structures or with many degrees of freedom.

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Numerical study of the influence of ZnTe thickness on CdS/ZnTe solar cell performance

Cited by 28 publications

References 19 publications

Boosting the Performance of Solar Cells with Intermediate Band Absorbers—The Case of ZnTe:O

Boosting the Performance of Solar Cells with Intermediate Band Absorbers—The Case of ZnTe:O

Influence of P+-ZnTe back surface contact on photovoltaic performance of ZnTe based solar cells

Foreword: Materials for energy harvesting, conversion and storage (ICOME 2016)

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