Development of copper sulfide/cadmium sulfide thin-film solar cells

Technical Report · Mon Mar 08 04:00:00 EST 1982

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5356262· OSTI ID:5356262

Szedon, J. R.; Biter, W. J.; Dickey, H. C.

The most important accomplishments during this period were to demonstrate and to elucidate further the complex effects that occur during the aging of Cu/sub 2/S/CdS thin-film solar cells in flowing wet oxygen. There are two distinct effects. At constant illumination, the short-circuit current of cells aged at room temperature consistently decreases with time. The second effect, related to diode opposing current, is more involved and may result from several competing mechanisms. Over the short term (approx. 4 to 5 hours), the magnitude of diode opposing current decreases. After approx. 20 hours of aging, opposing current generally returns to the level achieved after hydrogen annealing which immediately preceded the aging sequence. Optical measurements of the spectral transmission of the Cu/sub 2/S layers in a cell content have been made using a silicon detector epoxied to the back of a CdS cell after the copper foil substrate was removed. There is no significant change in Cu/sub 2/S transmission behavior for wavelengths ranging from 525 to 1000 nm during wet-oxygen aging for periods of 2 to 36 hours. This suggests that the decrease in J/sub SC/ at constant illumination, for the aging experiments in a flowing wet-oxygen ambient, arises because of changes in minority-carrier transport properties of the Cu/sub 2/S. Before developing a method for using an epoxied silicon detector to measure optical behavior of the Cu/sub 2/S layer, we explored the possibility of using a junction-containing wafer of silicon as a substrate for deposited CdS films. Some monolithic structures were successfully fabricated. Comparisons were made of CdS grain structure details in the junction detector area and in an adjacent metallized area.

• Research Organization: Solar Energy Research Inst., Golden, CO (USA); Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (USA). Research and Development Center
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-77CH00178
• OSTI ID: 5356262
• Report Number(s): SERI/PR-8143-1-T7; ON: DE82013339
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
AGING
CADMIUM COMPOUNDS
CADMIUM SULFIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHARGE TRANSPORT
COPPER SULFIDE SOLAR CELLS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CURRENTS
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FILMS
INORGANIC PHOSPHORS
LIGHT TRANSMISSION
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MICROSTRUCTURE
NONMETALS
OXYGEN
PHOSPHORS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
RADIATION DETECTORS
SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
SI SEMICONDUCTOR DETECTORS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SPECTRAL RESPONSE
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS