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Cadmium telluride solar cells

Conference · · Proc. - Electrochem. Soc.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6547362

Cadmium telluride is the only II-VI compound that can readily be prepared in both n- and p-type forms. Since, in addition, its bandgap lies near the optimum for solar energy conversion, it is currently one of the leading contenders for thin film terrestrial solar energy conversion. CdTe based solar cells with an efficiency of greater than 10% have been prepared by a variety of techniques including homojunction formation, chemical vapor transport of CdS to form a CdS/CdTe junction, electron beam evaporation of indium-tin oxide to form an ITO/CdTe junction, by closespaced vapor transport of both CdS and CdTe to form a CdS/CdTe junction, and by sintered layer techniques resulting in an all thin film sintered layer cell. Cells with creditable efficiency have also been prepared by ordinary vacuum evaporation of a window material, by spray pyrolysis deposition of a window material, and by electrodeposition of thin layers. This paper surveys research on CdTe solar cells and indicates the significant materials and device parameters.

Research Organization:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California
OSTI ID:
6547362
Report Number(s):
CONF-8305161-
Journal Information:
Proc. - Electrochem. Soc.; (United States), Journal Name: Proc. - Electrochem. Soc.; (United States) Vol. 83-11; ISSN PESOD
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English