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Analysis of Back-Contact Interface Recombination in Thin-Film Solar Cells

Journal Article · · IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [6]
  1. Texas State Univ., San Marcos, TX (United States)
  2. First Solar, Inc., Perrysburg, OH (United States)
  3. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  4. Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc., Thornton, CO (United States)
  5. Stion Corp., San Jose, CA (United States)
  6. National Cheng Kung Univ., Tainan City (Taiwan)
+ Show Author Affiliations

The open-circuit voltage (VOC) in a generic TCO/buffer/absorber/back-contact thin-film solar cell device is a key parameter in the recombination analysis. In particular, VOC is sensitively influenced by the interface recombination at the buffer/absorber front interface and at the absorber/back-contact interface. This paper reports the temperature, excitation light intensity, and wavelength-dependent open-circuit voltage analysis to separate and quantify recombination rates in solar cells at the front and back interfaces, in the depletion regions, and in the quasi-neutral region. The wavelength-dependent VOC analysis is exploited to extract the absorber/back-contact recombination coefficient. The experimentally observed results are verified using SCAPS-1D (one dimensional-a solar cell capacitance simulator) simulation.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1462336
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5K00-72052
Journal Information:
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Journal Name: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 8; ISSN 2156-3381
Publisher:
IEEECopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Cited By (2)

Solution-Processed CdTe Thin-Film Solar Cells Using ZnSe Nanocrystal as a Buffer Layer journal July 2018
Equivalent Circuit Model for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells Operating at Different Temperatures and Irradiance journal November 2018

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
SCAPS-1D
back-contact
interface
open-circuit voltage
photovoltaics
recombination