Doping CdTe and CdSeTe for higher efficiency

Technical Report · Mon Oct 31 04:00:00 EDT 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2319213· OSTI ID:2319213

Sampath, Walajabad S. ^[1]; Munshi, Amit Harenkumar ^[2]

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1. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States); Colorado State University
2. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)

Thin film cadmium telluride is one of the most successful photovoltaic technologies on the market today. Second only to silicon in yearly output and accounting for 40% of U.S. utility-scale photovoltaic installation, CdTe is known for its ease of manufacture, ideal bandgap, and low levelized cost of energy. Despite its commercial success, CdTe underperforms compared to its theoretical potential. The current world record CdTe device is only 21.0% compared to a theoretical maximum of 33.1%. This significant discrepancy in efficiencies can mostly be attributed to the poor open-circuit voltage of CdTe devices. Compared to silicon technologies, CdTe has a large voltage deficiency, exceeding 250 mV.

• Research Organization: Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: EE0008557
• OSTI ID: 2319213
• Report Number(s): DE--EE0008557
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
CdSeTe
CdTe
Solar energy
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group V doping