Development of a computer model for polycrystalline thin-film CuInSe{sub 2} and CdTe solar cells; Annual subcontract report, 1 March 1992--28 February 1993
- Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
Solar cells operate by converting the radiation power from sun light into electrical power through photon absorption by semiconductor materials. The elemental and compound material systems widely used in photovoltaic applications can be produced in a variety of crystalline and non-crystalline forms. Although the crystalline group of materials have exhibited high conversion efficiencies, their production cost are substantially high. Several candidates in the poly- and micro-crystalline family of materials have recently gained much attention due to their potential for low cost manufacturability, stability, reliability and good performance. Among those materials, CuInSe{sub 2} and CdTe are considered to be the best choices for production of thin film solar cells because of the good optical properties and almost ideal band gap energies. Considerable progress was made with respect to cell performance and low cost manufacturing processes. Recently conversion efficiencies of 14.1 and 14.6% have been reported for CuInSe{sub 2} and CdTe based solar cells respectively. Even though the efficiencies of these cells continue to improve, they are not fully understood materials and there lies an uncertainty in their electrical properties and possible attainable performances. The best way to understand the details of current transport mechanisms and recombinations is to model the solar cells numerically. By numerical modeling, the processes which limit the cell performance can be sought and therefore, the most desirable designs for solar cells utilizing these materials as absorbers can be predicted. The problems with numerically modeling CuInSe{sub 2} and CdTe solar cells are that reported values of the pertinent material parameters vary over a wide range, and some quantities such as carrier concentration are not explicitly controlled.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Purdue Univ., Lafayette, IN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-83CH10093
- OSTI ID:
- 140909
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/TP-451-6398; ON: DE94006853; TRN: 94:003979
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Mar 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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