Enabling bifacial thin film devices by developing a back surface field using CuxAlOy

Subedi, Kamala Khanal; Phillips, Adam B.; Shrestha, Niraj; Alfadhili, Fadhil K.; Osella, Anna; Subedi, Indra; Awni, Rasha A.; Bastola, Ebin; Song, Zhaoning; Li, Deng-Bing; Collins, Robert W.; Yan, Yanfa; Podraza, Nikolas J.; Heben, Michael J.; Ellingson, Randy J.

doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.105827

Enabling bifacial thin film devices by developing a back surface field using Cu_xAlO_y

Journal Article · Sat May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Nano Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.105827· OSTI ID:1848935

Subedi, Kamala Khanal ^[1]; Phillips, Adam B. ^[2]; Shrestha, Niraj ^[2]; Alfadhili, Fadhil K. ^[2]; Osella, Anna ^[2]; Subedi, Indra ^[2]; Awni, Rasha A. ^[2]; Bastola, Ebin ^[2]; Song, Zhaoning ^[2]; Li, Deng-Bing ^[2]; Collins, Robert W. ^[2]; Yan, Yanfa ^[2]; Podraza, Nikolas J. ^[2]; Heben, Michael J. ^[2]; Ellingson, Randy J. ^[2]

Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States). Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)
Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States). Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

Bifacial solar cells have the potential to increase the energy yield per unit area over traditional monofacial devices without significant added cost, driving $/kWh costs lower and accelerating the adoption of solar photovoltaics. However, the performance of bifacial thin film solar cells significantly lags that achieved by crystalline silicon cells. Here we incorporate wide bandgap Cu_xAlO_y as a back buffer layer for CdTe devices and achieve a backside illuminated device with high current density and high fill factor. Moreover, these values remain nearly constant even as the absorber layer thickness changes, indicating that a fully-depleted device is not required for efficient charge collection. We show that this response is indicative of a back surface field, albeit with a persistent high back surface recombination velocity. By managing electron reflection, we achieved a backside illumination conversion efficiency of 7.1% and bifaciality of 0.55 for a 3.3 µm CdTe device and 8.0% and 0.62 for a 2 µm device. Future improvements can be made by identifying and incorporating a passivation material that reduces the back surface recombination velocity.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: EE0008974

OSTI ID:: 1848935

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1842883

Journal Information:: Nano Energy, Journal Name: Nano Energy Journal Issue: C Vol. 83; ISSN 2211-2855

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Enabling bifacial thin film devices by developing a back surface field using CuxAlOy

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