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Efficient thin-film CdS/CdTe solar cells

Conference · · Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5460623
Efficient thin-film CdS/CdTe solar cells have been developed. The CdS and CdTe films, with a thickness of 0.1..mu..m and 4..mu..m respectively, are prepared by a close-spaced-sublimation technique onto Nesatron substrates (soda-lime glass coated with doped In/sub 2/O/sub 3/). The In/sub 2/O/sub 3/ layer serves as the contact electrode to CdS and an evaporated Au layer as the contact to CdTe. A small amount of oxygen introduced during the deposition of the semiconductor layers enhances the p-type character of the CdTe film and ensures the shallow-junction behavior of the device. The good optical matching inherent to the cell structure leads to a low reflection loss (6-7%) without additional antireflection coatings. The blue response of the cells is enhanced by using a thin CdS layer. Under simulated AM2 illumination, at 75 mW/cm/sup 2/, the cells have a typical output of V/SUB oc/ about 750 mV, I/SUB sc/ about 17 mA/cm/sup 2/, F.F. about 0.62, and efficiency about 10.5% at room temperature. The diode factors are estimated to be N about 1.8 and I/SUB o/ about 5.4 x 10/sup -10/ A/cm/sup 2/. Based on these data, the theoretical efficiency of the device is about 16%.
Research Organization:
Eastman Kodak Company, Research Laboratories, Rochester, NY
OSTI ID:
5460623
Report Number(s):
CONF-820906-
Conference Information:
Journal Name: Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English