In-depth analysis of chloride treatments for thin-film CdTe solar cells
Abstract
CdTe thin-film solar cells are now the main industrially established alternative to silicon-based photovoltaics. These cells remain reliant on the so-called chloride activation step in order to achieve high conversion efficiencies. Here, by comparison of effective and ineffective chloride treatments, we show the main role of the chloride process to be the modification of grain boundaries through chlorine accumulation, which leads an increase in the carrier lifetime. It is also demonstrated that while improvements in fill factor and short circuit current may be achieved through use of the ineffective chlorides, or indeed simple air annealing, voltage improvement is linked directly to chlorine incorporation at the grain boundaries. Lastly, this suggests that focus on improved or more controlled grain boundary treatments may provide a route to achieving higher cell voltages and thus efficiencies.
- Authors:
-
[4];
- Univ. of Liverpool (United Kingdom). Stephenson Inst. for Renewable Energy and Dept. of Physics
- Umm Al-Qura Univ., Mecca (Saudi Arabia)
- Durham Univ. (United Kingdom). G.J. Russell Microscopy Facility, Dept. of Physics
- Univ. of Southampton (United Kingdom). School of Physics & Astronomy; Skolkovo Inst. of Science and Technology, Moscow (Russia)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science & Technology Division
- National Univ. of Singapore (Singapore)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1338571
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; EP/J017361/1
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2041-1723
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 14 SOLAR ENERGY; Materials for devices; Semiconductors; Solar cells
Citation Formats
Major, J. D., Al Turkestani, M., Bowen, L., Brossard, M., Li, C., Lagoudakis, P., Pennycook, Stephen J., Phillips, L. J., Treharne, R. E., and Durose, K. In-depth analysis of chloride treatments for thin-film CdTe solar cells. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1038/ncomms13231.
Major, J. D., Al Turkestani, M., Bowen, L., Brossard, M., Li, C., Lagoudakis, P., Pennycook, Stephen J., Phillips, L. J., Treharne, R. E., & Durose, K. In-depth analysis of chloride treatments for thin-film CdTe solar cells. United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13231
Major, J. D., Al Turkestani, M., Bowen, L., Brossard, M., Li, C., Lagoudakis, P., Pennycook, Stephen J., Phillips, L. J., Treharne, R. E., and Durose, K. Mon .
"In-depth analysis of chloride treatments for thin-film CdTe solar cells". United States. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13231. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1338571.
@article{osti_1338571,
title = {In-depth analysis of chloride treatments for thin-film CdTe solar cells},
author = {Major, J. D. and Al Turkestani, M. and Bowen, L. and Brossard, M. and Li, C. and Lagoudakis, P. and Pennycook, Stephen J. and Phillips, L. J. and Treharne, R. E. and Durose, K.},
abstractNote = {CdTe thin-film solar cells are now the main industrially established alternative to silicon-based photovoltaics. These cells remain reliant on the so-called chloride activation step in order to achieve high conversion efficiencies. Here, by comparison of effective and ineffective chloride treatments, we show the main role of the chloride process to be the modification of grain boundaries through chlorine accumulation, which leads an increase in the carrier lifetime. It is also demonstrated that while improvements in fill factor and short circuit current may be achieved through use of the ineffective chlorides, or indeed simple air annealing, voltage improvement is linked directly to chlorine incorporation at the grain boundaries. Lastly, this suggests that focus on improved or more controlled grain boundary treatments may provide a route to achieving higher cell voltages and thus efficiencies.},
doi = {10.1038/ncomms13231},
journal = {Nature Communications},
number = ,
volume = 7,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Oct 24 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Oct 24 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
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