Electron-Selective TiO2 Contact for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells
Abstract
The non-toxic and wide bandgap material TiO 2 is explored as an n-type buffer layer on p-type Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) absorber layer for thin film solar cells. The amorphous TiO 2 thin film deposited by atomic layer deposition process at low temperatures shows conformal coverage on the CIGS absorber layer. Solar cells from non-vacuum deposited CIGS absorbers with TiO 2 buffer layer result in a high short-circuit current density of 38.9 mA/cm 2 as compared to 36.9 mA/cm 2 measured in the reference cell with CdS buffer layer, without compromising open-circuit voltage. The significant photocurrent gain, mainly in the UV part of the spectrum, can be attributed to the low parasitic absorption loss in the ultrathin TiO2 layer (~10 nm) with a larger bandgap of 3.4 eV compared to 2.4 eV of the traditionally used CdS. Overall the solar cell conversion efficiency was improved from 9.5% to 9.9% by substituting the CdS by TiO2 on an active cell area of 10.5 mm 2. Optimized TiO2 /CIGS solar cells show excellent long-term stability. The results imply that TiO2 is a promising buffer layer material for CIGS solar cells, avoiding the toxic CdS buffer layer with added performance advantage.
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division; Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu (Taiwan). Green Energy & Environment Research Laboratorie
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Materials Sciences Division
- Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu (Taiwan). Green Energy & Environment Research Laboratorie
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1256061
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1378631
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Scientific Reports
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 2045-2322
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 14 SOLAR ENERGY
Citation Formats
Hsu, Weitse, Sutter-Fella, Carolin M., Hettick, Mark, Cheng, Lungteng, Chan, Shengwen, Chen, Yunfeng, Zeng, Yuping, Zheng, Maxwell, Wang, Hsin-Ping, Chiang, Chien-Chih, and Javey, Ali. Electron-Selective TiO2 Contact for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1038/srep16028.
Hsu, Weitse, Sutter-Fella, Carolin M., Hettick, Mark, Cheng, Lungteng, Chan, Shengwen, Chen, Yunfeng, Zeng, Yuping, Zheng, Maxwell, Wang, Hsin-Ping, Chiang, Chien-Chih, & Javey, Ali. Electron-Selective TiO2 Contact for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16028
Hsu, Weitse, Sutter-Fella, Carolin M., Hettick, Mark, Cheng, Lungteng, Chan, Shengwen, Chen, Yunfeng, Zeng, Yuping, Zheng, Maxwell, Wang, Hsin-Ping, Chiang, Chien-Chih, and Javey, Ali. Tue .
"Electron-Selective TiO2 Contact for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16028. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1256061.
@article{osti_1256061,
title = {Electron-Selective TiO2 Contact for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells},
author = {Hsu, Weitse and Sutter-Fella, Carolin M. and Hettick, Mark and Cheng, Lungteng and Chan, Shengwen and Chen, Yunfeng and Zeng, Yuping and Zheng, Maxwell and Wang, Hsin-Ping and Chiang, Chien-Chih and Javey, Ali},
abstractNote = {The non-toxic and wide bandgap material TiO 2 is explored as an n-type buffer layer on p-type Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) absorber layer for thin film solar cells. The amorphous TiO 2 thin film deposited by atomic layer deposition process at low temperatures shows conformal coverage on the CIGS absorber layer. Solar cells from non-vacuum deposited CIGS absorbers with TiO 2 buffer layer result in a high short-circuit current density of 38.9 mA/cm 2 as compared to 36.9 mA/cm 2 measured in the reference cell with CdS buffer layer, without compromising open-circuit voltage. The significant photocurrent gain, mainly in the UV part of the spectrum, can be attributed to the low parasitic absorption loss in the ultrathin TiO2 layer (~10 nm) with a larger bandgap of 3.4 eV compared to 2.4 eV of the traditionally used CdS. Overall the solar cell conversion efficiency was improved from 9.5% to 9.9% by substituting the CdS by TiO2 on an active cell area of 10.5 mm 2. Optimized TiO2 /CIGS solar cells show excellent long-term stability. The results imply that TiO2 is a promising buffer layer material for CIGS solar cells, avoiding the toxic CdS buffer layer with added performance advantage.},
doi = {10.1038/srep16028},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
number = ,
volume = 5,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Nov 03 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Tue Nov 03 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 47 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
Electronic level alignment at the deeply buried absorber/Mo interface in chalcopyrite-based thin film solar cells
journal, July 2008
- Bär, M.; Nishiwaki, S.; Weinhardt, L.
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 93, Issue 4
N-type CdS layer prepared by shallow chemical bath deposition on a 370×470mm2 glass substrate
journal, February 2013
- Hsu, Wei-Tse; Ro, Shih-Shu; Hsu, Hung-Ru
- Thin Solid Films, Vol. 529
Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells with new record efficiencies up to 21.7% : Properties of Cu(In,Ga)Se
journal, December 2014
- Jackson, Philip; Hariskos, Dimitrios; Wuerz, Roland
- physica status solidi (RRL) - Rapid Research Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 1
Modelling polycrystalline semiconductor solar cells
journal, February 2000
- Burgelman, M.; Nollet, P.; Degrave, S.
- Thin Solid Films, Vol. 361-362
Substitution of the CdS buffer layer in CIGS thin-film solar cells: Status of current research and record cell efficiencies
journal, February 2014
- Witte, Wolfram; Spiering, Stefanie; Hariskos, Dimitrios
- Vakuum in Forschung und Praxis, Vol. 26, Issue 1
Buffer layers in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells and modules
journal, June 2005
- Hariskos, D.; Spiering, S.; Powalla, M.
- Thin Solid Films, Vol. 480-481
Development of Cu(InGa)Se2-based thin-film PV modules with a Zn(O,S,OH)x buffer layer
journal, December 2004
- Kushiya, Katsumi
- Solar Energy, Vol. 77, Issue 6
Solar cell efficiency tables (Version 45): Solar cell efficiency tables
journal, December 2014
- Green, Martin A.; Emery, Keith; Hishikawa, Yoshihiro
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 23, Issue 1
A better understanding of the growth mechanism of Zn(S,O,OH) chemical bath deposited buffer layers for high efficiency Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se) 2 solar cells
journal, October 2008
- Hubert, C.; Naghavi, N.; Etcheberry, A.
- physica status solidi (a), Vol. 205, Issue 10
The Zn(S,O,OH)/ZnMgO buffer in thin-film Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S) 2 -based solar cells part II: Magnetron sputtering of the ZnMgO buffer layer for in-line co-evaporated Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells
journal, November 2009
- Hariskos, D.; Fuchs, B.; Menner, R.
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 17, Issue 7
A brief review of atomic layer deposition: from fundamentals to applications
journal, June 2014
- Johnson, Richard W.; Hultqvist, Adam; Bent, Stacey F.
- Materials Today, Vol. 17, Issue 5
Effects of combined heat and light soaking on device performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells with ZnS(O,OH) buffer layer : Combined heat and light-soaking effects in CIGS solar cells with ZnS(O,OH)buffer layer
journal, February 2013
- Kobayashi, Taizo; Yamaguchi, Hiroshi; Nakada, Tokio
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 22, Issue 1
Optimization of CBD CdS process in high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2-based solar cells
journal, February 2002
- Contreras, Miguel A.; Romero, Manuel J.; To, Bobby
- Thin Solid Films, Vol. 403-404, p. 204-211
Atomic layer deposition of Zn1−xMgxO buffer layers for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells
journal, January 2007
- Törndahl, T.; Platzer-Björkman, C.; Kessler, J.
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 15, Issue 3
Improvement of the cell performance in the ZnS/Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells by the sputter deposition of a bilayer ZnO : Al film : Sputter deposition of a bilayer ZnO : Al film as a window layer
journal, December 2012
- Shin, Dong Hyeop; Kim, Ji Hye; Shin, Young Min
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 21, Issue 2
High quality baseline for high efficiency, Cu(In1−x,Gax)Se2 solar cells
journal, January 2007
- Jackson, Philip; Würz, Roland; Rau, Uwe
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 15, Issue 6
19.2% Efficient InP Heterojunction Solar Cell with Electron-Selective TiO 2 Contact
journal, October 2014
- Yin, Xingtian; Battaglia, Corsin; Lin, Yongjing
- ACS Photonics, Vol. 1, Issue 12
Highly efficient Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells grown on flexible polymer films
journal, September 2011
- Chirilă, Adrian; Buecheler, Stephan; Pianezzi, Fabian
- Nature Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 11
High-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-film solar cells with a CBD-ZnS buffer layer
journal, March 2001
- Nakada, T.; Mizutani, M.; Hagiwara, Y.
- Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 67, Issue 1-4
Device characteristics of a 17.1% efficient solar cell deposited by a non-vacuum printing method on flexible foil
conference, June 2012
- Brown, Gregory; Stone, Peter; Woodruff, Jacob
- 2012 IEEE 38th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2012 38th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
Kesterites and Chalcopyrites: A Comparison of Close Cousins
journal, January 2011
- Repins, Ingrid; Vora, Nirav; Beall, Carolyn
- MRS Proceedings, Vol. 1324
The Zn(S,O,OH)/ZnMgO buffer in thin-film Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S) 2 -based solar cells part II: Magnetron sputtering of the ZnMgO buffer layer for in-line co-evaporated Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells
journal, November 2009
- Hariskos, D.; Fuchs, B.; Menner, R.
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 17, Issue 7
Substitution of the CdS buffer layer in CIGS thin-film solar cells: Status of current research and record cell efficiencies
journal, February 2014
- Witte, Wolfram; Spiering, Stefanie; Hariskos, Dimitrios
- Vakuum in Forschung und Praxis, Vol. 26, Issue 1
Buffer layers in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells and modules
journal, June 2005
- Hariskos, D.; Spiering, S.; Powalla, M.
- Thin Solid Films, Vol. 480-481
Influence of NH3 concentration and annealing in the properties of chemical bath deposited ZnS films
journal, October 1999
- Vidal, J.; Vigil, O.; de Melo, O.
- Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 61, Issue 2
Works referencing / citing this record:
Functional Oxides for Photoneuromorphic Engineering: Toward a Solar Brain
journal, June 2019
- Pérez‐Tomás, Amador
- Advanced Materials Interfaces, Vol. 6, Issue 15
Efficient photocatalytic degradation by a silicon solar cell module with two Schottky junction TiO 2 /Ti electrodes
journal, February 2018
- Liu, Qian; Zhu, Qishan; Zhang, Jingjiao
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 6
Titanium dioxide thin films by atomic layer deposition: a review
journal, August 2017
- Niemelä, Janne-Petteri; Marin, Giovanni; Karppinen, Maarit
- Semiconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 32, Issue 9
Mechanochemical Solvent-Free Synthesis of Quaternary Semiconductor Cu-Fe-Sn-S Nanocrystals
journal, April 2017
- Baláž, Peter; Baláž, Matej; Sayagués, María J.
- Nanoscale Research Letters, Vol. 12, Issue 1