High efficiency thin film CdTe solar cells. Second quarterly progress report, July 1, 1980-September 30, 1980
Thin films of CdTe have been vacuum deposited onto glass and ITO-coated glass substrates using a hot-wall technique. Improved source conditions and system cleanliness have enabled large pinhole-free regions capable of providing our first large area evaporated Au devices (greater than 1 cm/sup 2/). An optimized Au thickness has been determined and characterized in terms of sheet resistance and optical transmission. An evaporated Au/Ag combined grid and a SiO AR coating have yielded 1 cm/sup 2/ active area Au-CdTe-ITO devices with J/sub sc/ = 13 mA/cm/sup 2/ and V/sub oc/ of 0.43 volt. The 1.4% efficiency is only temporarily limited by the uncharacteristically low 0.25 fill factor which is believed to be caused by an anomaly near the ITO contact. A three-source system with effusion cell type sources and a rotary shutter has been designed, built, and successfully tested. This more sophisticated system should greatly improve our control over film and device reproducibility and also provide greater versatility in controlling doping concentration and film stoichiometry. In addition, this new system will allow for in situ deposition of an In flash in order to improve the ITO-CdTe contact behavior. Furthermore, the system offers possibilities for p-n junction deposition without breaking vacuum.
- Research Organization:
- Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc., Watertown, MA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-77CH00178
- OSTI ID:
- 6890650
- Report Number(s):
- SERI/PR-9133-1-T1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CADMIUM TELLURIDE SOLAR CELLS
FABRICATION
PERFORMANCE
CADMIUM TELLURIDES
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
VACUUM COATING
ANTIREFLECTION COATINGS
CARRIER DENSITY
CARRIER MOBILITY
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
FILL FACTORS
GOLD
INDIUM OXIDES
OPTIMIZATION
SILICON OXIDES
SILVER
SPECTRAL RESPONSE
TIN OXIDES
VAPOR PLATING
CADMIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
COATINGS
DEPOSITION
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
INDIUM COMPOUNDS
METALS
MOBILITY
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLATING
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SURFACE COATING
TELLURIDES
TELLURIUM COMPOUNDS
TIN COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
140501* - Solar Energy Conversion- Photovoltaic Conversion
360601 - Other Materials- Preparation & Manufacture