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Title: Next Generation Thin-Film Solar Absorbers Based on Chalcogenides

Journal Article · · Chemical Reviews
 [1]
  1. Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States); The University of Oklahoma, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Harvesting solar energy has never been more important than today as the world is combating the implications of global climate change. Grid decarbonization is a central component of efforts to keep the global temperature increase below 2 °C following the 2015 Paris Agreement. The Sun is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source with the Earth’s surface receiving enough energy in an hour to meet the world’s annual energy demands. Therefore, we need to take advantage of the essentially limitless clean solar energy for powering our society; this can be achieved using photovoltaics (PV), direct conversion of sunlight into electricity using semiconductor materials. To gain full advantage of this technology, however, the cost of PV must be competitive with the more traditional carbon-based sources (coal, oil, and natural gas). Most recent developments on this front, including the current state-of-the-art solar cell technologies and ongoing work on a new generation of light absorbing chalcogenide materials, are discussed by Lydia Wong and colleagues in a comprehensive new review article (10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00301). The Review covers a broad class of materials and provides a comparison between different materials on the basis of diode parameters and DFT calculations. Furthermore, this Highlight will focus specifically on copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS).

Research Organization:
Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0021158
OSTI ID:
1972333
Journal Information:
Chemical Reviews, Journal Name: Chemical Reviews Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 122; ISSN 0009-2665
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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