Electrical characterization and comparison of CIGS solar cells made with different structures and fabrication techniques

Journal Article · Thu Aug 31 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2017.08.027· OSTI ID:1389740

Garris, Rebekah L. ^[1]; Johnston, Steven ^[1]; Li, Jian V. ^[1]; Guthrey, Harvey L. ^[1]; Ramanathan, Kannan ^[1]; Mansfield, Lorelle M.  ^[1]

---

1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

In a previous study, we reported on Cu(In,Ga)Se2-based (CIGS) solar cell samples collected from different research laboratories and industrial companies with the purpose of understanding the range of CIGS materials that can lead to high-quality and high-efficiency solar panels. Here, we report on electrical measurements of those same samples. Electron-beam induced current and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) gave insights about the collection probability and the lifetime of carriers generated in each absorber. Capacitance and drive-level capacitance profiling revealed nonuniformity in carrier-density profiles. Admittance spectroscopy revealed small activation energies (= 0.03 eV) indicative of the inversion strength, larger activation energies (> 0.1 eV) reflective of thermal activation of absorber conductivity and a deeper defect level. Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) probed deep hole-trapping defects and showed that all samples in this study had a majority-carrier defect with activation energy between 0.3 eV and 0.9 eV. Optical-DLTS revealed deep electron-trapping defects in several of the CIGS samples. This work focused on revealing similarities and differences between high-quality CIGS solar cells made with various structures and fabrication techniques.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
• Grant/Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1389740
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1549915
• Report Number(s): NREL/JA-5K00-67143
• Journal Information: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 174, Issue C; ISSN 0927-0248
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
admittance spectroscopy
capacitance
cross-sectional electron-beam induced current (EBIC)
Cu(In
Ga)Se2 (CIGS)
deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS)
drive-level capacitance profiling (DLCP)
electrical characterization
optical-DLTS
thin-film photovoltaics
time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL)
two-photon excitation