in-situ-monitoring-accelerated-performance-degradation-solar-cells

<em>In Situ</em> Monitoring of the Accelerated Performance Degradation of Solar Cells and Modules: A Case Study for Cu(In,Ga)Se<sub>2</sub> Solar Cells

The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of photovoltaic (PV) systems is determined by, among other factors, the PV module reliability. Better prediction ...

Université de Nantes, CNRS

The interface between a nominal In2S3 buffer and a Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) thin-film solar cell absorber was investigated by direct and inverse photoemission to determine the interfacial electronic structure. On the basis of a previously reported heavy intermixing at the interface (S diffuses into the absorber; Cu diffuses into the buffer; and Na diffuses through it), we determine here the band alignment at the interface. The results suggest that the pronounced intermixing at the In2S3/CIGSe interface leads to a favorable electronic band alignment, necessary for high-efficiency solar cell devices. 

Impact of Annealing-Induced Intermixing on the Electronic Level Alignment at the In2S3/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin-Film Solar Cell Interface.

CdInS and InS compounds were both previously studied as buffer layers in CIGS-based thin-film solar cells, each of them exhibiting advantages and disadvantages. Thus, we naturally embarked on the study of the CdInS-InS system, and a series of CdInS (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) materials were prepared and characterized. Our results show that two solid solutions exist. The aliovalent substitution of cadmium(II) by indium(III) induces a structural transition at x ≈ 0.7 from cubic spinel Fd3̅ m to tetragonal spinel I4/ amd that is related to an ordering of cadmium vacancies. Despite this transition, the variation of optical gap is continuous and decreases from 2.34 to 2.11 eV going from CdInS to InS while all compounds retain an n-type behavior. In contrast with the Al InS solid solution, no saturation of the gap is observed. Moreover, XPS analyses indicate a difference between surface and volume composition of the grains for Cd-poor compounds. The use of CdInS compounds could be a good alternative to CdInS and InS to improve CIGS/buffer interfaces with a compromise between photovoltaic conversion efficiency and cadmium content.

Crystal Chemistry, Optical-Electronic Properties, and Electronic Structure of CdInS Compounds (0 ≤ x ≤ 1), Potential Buffer in CIGS-Based Thin-Film Solar Cells.

Article	Year
Impact of Annealing-Induced Intermixing on the Electronic Level Alignment at the In2S3/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin-Film Solar Cell Interface. ACS applied materials & interfaces\| PubMed ID: 26716913	2016
Crystal Chemistry, Optical-Electronic Properties, and Electronic Structure of CdInS Compounds (0 ≤ x ≤ 1), Potential Buffer in CIGS-Based Thin-Film Solar Cells. Inorganic chemistry\| PubMed ID: 30260231	2018

Nicolas Barreau

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