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Future Directions in Thin Film Solar Cells

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "D1: Advanced Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 4519

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Energy Harvesting Research Group, School of Physics & Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
Interests: energy harvesting; thin film solar cells; organic photovoltaics; hybrid perovskite solar cells; metal oxide semiconductors; interface engineering; indoor photovoltaics; Internet of Things

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

This special issue will provide a comprehensive overview on recent advances and future directions of research in the emerging thin film solar cells. This include different PV technologies such as Hybrid Organic-inorganics, organic photovoltaics, quantum dots (QDs), CIGS, oxide PV and homo/hybrid tandem solar cells, existing challenges in these emerging PV technologies, their novel applications such as visible light communication, energy efficient windows, indoor light harvesting etc. The special issue will consider studies from an interdisciplinary perspective which integrate PV materials development, characterization, their photophysics, and engineering applications.

Topics covered include but are not limited to;

  1. Hybrid organic-inorganic PV
  2. Organic Solar cells
  3. Semitransparent/transparent PV
  4. Device Physics of solar cells
  5. Interfacial engineering
  6. Tandem solar cells

Thank you very much!

Dr. Lethy Krishnan Jagadamma
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Hybrid organic-inorganic PV
  • Organic Solar cells
  • Semitransparent/transparent PV
  • Device Physics of solar cells
  • Interfacial engineering
  • Tandem solar cells

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1926 KiB  
Article
Dominant Processing Factors in Two-Step Fabrication of Pure Sulfide CIGS Absorbers
by Sarallah Hamtaei, Guy Brammertz, Marc Meuris, Jef Poortmans and Bart Vermang
Energies 2021, 14(16), 4737; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14164737 - 4 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1836
Abstract
Pure sulfide CIGS solar cells are interesting candidates for standalone solar cells or top cells in a tandem configuration. To understand the limits and improve the power conversion efficiency of these devices, a comprehensive approach aimed at composition, interface, and process engineering should [...] Read more.
Pure sulfide CIGS solar cells are interesting candidates for standalone solar cells or top cells in a tandem configuration. To understand the limits and improve the power conversion efficiency of these devices, a comprehensive approach aimed at composition, interface, and process engineering should be employed. Here, the latter was explored. Using a two-step fabrication technique and one-variable-at-a-time methodology, we found the four processing factors affecting the absorber the most. While two were already backed by the previous literature, we found new and statistical evidence for two other important factors as well. The impact of alkali barrier diffusion was also established with statistical significance and under various processing conditions. Furthermore, the absorber roughness for samples without a barrier indicated a significant negative linear correlation with the devices’ efficiency. This contribution could aid engineers in more efficient process designs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Directions in Thin Film Solar Cells)
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13 pages, 6223 KiB  
Article
Ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells with Ag/AlOx Passivating Back Reflector
by Jessica de Wild, Gizem Birant, Guy Brammertz, Marc Meuris, Jef Poortmans and Bart Vermang
Energies 2021, 14(14), 4268; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144268 - 14 Jul 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1960
Abstract
Ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) absorber layers of 550 nm were grown on Ag/AlOx stacks. The addition of the stack resulted in solar cells with improved fill factor, open circuit voltage and short circuit current density. The efficiency was increased from 7% to [...] Read more.
Ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) absorber layers of 550 nm were grown on Ag/AlOx stacks. The addition of the stack resulted in solar cells with improved fill factor, open circuit voltage and short circuit current density. The efficiency was increased from 7% to almost 12%. Photoluminescence (PL) and time resolved PL were improved, which was attributed to the passivating properties of AlOx. A current increase of almost 2 mA/cm2 was measured, due to increased light scattering and surface roughness. With time of flight—secondary ion mass spectroscopy, the elemental profiles were measured. It was found that the Ag is incorporated through the whole CIGS layer. Secondary electron microscopic images of the Mo back revealed residuals of the Ag/AlOx stack, which was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurements. It is assumed to induce the increased surface roughness and scattering properties. At the front, large stains are visible for the cells with the Ag/AlOx back contact. An ammonia sulfide etching step was therefore applied on the bare absorber improving the efficiency further to 11.7%. It shows the potential of utilizing an Ag/AlOx stack at the back to improve both electrical and optical properties of ultrathin CIGS solar cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Directions in Thin Film Solar Cells)
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