Graded-Bandgap Solar Cells Using All-Electrodeposited ZnS, CdS and CdTe Thin-Films

Energies

Obi K. Echendu¹  Imyhamy M. Dharmadasa¹ 

[1] Electronic Materials and Sensors Group, Materials and Engineering Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK; E-Mail:

关键词: graded bandgap;    electrodeposition;    CdTe;    ZnS;    CdS;    solar cell;   

DOI  :  10.3390/en8054416

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

A 3-layer graded-bandgap solar cell with glass/FTO/ZnS/CdS/CdTe/Au structure has been fabricated using all-electrodeposited ZnS, CdS and CdTe thin layers. The three semiconductor layers were electrodeposited using a two-electrode system for process simplification. The incorporation of a wide bandgap amorphous ZnS as a buffer/window layer to form glass/FTO/ZnS/CdS/CdTe/Au solar cell resulted in the formation of this 3-layer graded-bandgap device structure. This has yielded corresponding improvement in all the solar cell parameters resulting in a conversion efficiency >10% under AM1.5 illumination conditions at room temperature, compared to the 8.0% efficiency of a 2-layer glass/FTO/CdS/CdTe/Au reference solar cell structure. These results demonstrate the advantages of the multi-layer graded-bandgap device architecture over the conventional 2-layer structure. In addition, they demonstrate the effective application of the two-electrode system as a simplification to the conventional three-electrode system in the electrodeposition of semiconductors with the elimination of the reference electrode as a possible impurity source.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.