Performance Improvement of CIGS Solar Cell: A Simulation Approach by SCAPS-1D

Abstract

Thin-film solar cells possess the distinct advantage of being cost-effective and relatively simple to manufacture. Nevertheless, it is of utmost importance to enhance their overall performance. In this research work, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS)-based ultra-thin solar cell (SC) configuration (Ag/ZnO/ZnSe/CIGS/Si/Ni) has been designed and examined using SCAPS-1D. The numerical calculations revealed that this new design resulted in a substantial improvement in SC performance. This study explores the utilization of two absorber layers, CIGS and Si, both with a total of 2 μm thickness, to enhance device performance while reducing material costs, observing an increase in key SC parameters as the Si absorber layer thickness is increased, reaching a maximum efficiency of 29.13% when CIGS and Si thicknesses are set at 0.4 μm and 1.6 μm, respectively with doping absorber doping density of 10 14 cm −3 . Furthermore, we analyze the impact of variation in absorber and buffer layer thickness, as well as doping concentration, surface recombination velocity (SRV), electron affinity, series-shunt resistance, and temperature, on optimized CIGS SC parameters such as short-circuit current density (J SC ), open circuit voltage (V OC ), fill factor (FF), and power conversion efficiency (PCE). The findings yielded by the investigation offer significant elucidation regarding the fabrication of economically viable and highly efficient non-hazardous CIGS ultra-thin SC.