Surface and bulk effects of K in highly efficient Cu1-xKxInSe2 solar cells

Muzzillo, Christopher P.; Li, Jian V.; Mansfield, Lorelle M.; Ramanathan, Kannan; Anderson, Timothy J.

doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2018.05.013

Title: Surface and bulk effects of K in highly efficient Cu_1-xK_xInSe₂ solar cells

Journal Article · Fri May 11 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.05.013· OSTI ID:1440402

^[1]; Li, Jian V. ^[2]; Mansfield, Lorelle M. ^[3]; Ramanathan, Kannan ^[3]; Anderson, Timothy J. ^[4]

National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
National Cheng Kung Univ., Tainan City (Taiwan)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

To advance knowledge of the beneficial effects of K in Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S)₂ (CIGS) photovoltaic (PV) absorbers, recent Cu-K-In-Se phase growth studies have been extended to PV performance. First, the effect of distributing K throughout bulk Cu_1-xK_xInSe₂ absorbers at low K/(K+Cu) compositions (0 = x = 0.30) was studied. Efficiency, open-circuit voltage (VOC), and fill factor (FF) were greatly enhanced for x ~ 0.07, resulting in an officially-measured 15.0%-efficient solar cell, matching the world record CuInSe₂ efficiency. The improvements were a result of reduced interface and bulk recombination, relative to CuInSe₂ (x ~ 0). However, higher x compositions had reduced efficiency, short-circuit current density (J_SC), and FF due to greatly increased interface recombination, relative to the x ~ 0 baseline. Next, the effect of confining K at the absorber/buffer interface at high K/(K+Cu) compositions (0.30 = x = 0.92) was researched. Previous work showed that these surface layer growth conditions produced CuInSe₂ with a large phase fraction of KInSe₂. After optimization (75 nm surface layer with x ~ 0.41), these KInSe₂ surface samples exhibited increased efficiency (officially 14.9%), VOC, and FF as a result of decreased interface recombination. The KInSe₂ surfaces had features similar to previous reports for KF post-deposition treatments (PDTs) used in world record CIGS solar cells - taken as indirect evidence that KInSe₂ can form during these PDTs. Both the bulk and surface growth processes greatly reduced interface recombination. However, the KInSe₂ surface had higher K levels near the surface, greater lifetimes, and increased inversion near the buffer interface, relative to the champion bulk Cu_1-xK_xInSe₂ absorber. These characteristics demonstrate that K may benefit PV performance by different mechanisms at the surface and in the absorber bulk.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1440402

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1548194

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5K00-71504

Journal Information:: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 185, Issue C; ISSN 0927-0248

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 9 works

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Revealing the beneficial role of K in grain interiors, grain boundaries, and at the buffer interface for highly efficient CuInSe ₂ solar cells Muzzillo, Christopher P.; Poplawsky, Jonathan D.; Tong, Ho Ming Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 26, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3022	journal	June 2018

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Title: Surface and bulk effects of K in highly efficient Cu_1-xK_xInSe₂ solar cells