A research team in Egypt has proposed a new architecture for kesterite solar cells using a copper oxide trees transport layer and optimized configuration. The simulated device had a maximum efficiency of 33.56%.
A research team at Kafrelsheikh University in Egypt has proposed a kesterite solar cell with an optimized copper oxide (CUO) hole transport layer. The simulated device had a maximum efficiency of 33.56%.
Kesteriet, in particular copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) solar cells, are an attractive candidate for affordable thin film solar cells because of the abundance and non-toxic properties of the cell materials and high potential band locations, according to researchers, but there is a need to improve efficiency.
In the study, the SCAPS-1D team used to simulate a 1.3 EV CZTS NIP sunscreen to investigate how variations in the thickness, band distance, bearer concentration and operating temperature of the various layers, including gaptransport layer (HTL), electro transport layer (ETL) and Absorber layer, the performance of the performance of the performance, of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the performance of the Solar Perator layer.
The HTL materials studied include copper (i) oxide (CUO), copper (i) oxide (CU2O) and copper (i) thiocyanate (CUSCN).
“By evaluating how these materials influence charge transport, efficiency and device performance, the most suitable HTL for improving the overall effectiveness of CZTS sun cells is identified,” the scientists said.
The proposed thin film stack was as follows: a fluorine-doted tinoxide (FTO) pre-contact, titanium dioxide (TIO2) ETL, CZS Absorber layer, CUO as the HTL and Gold (AU).
“Parameters from earlier studies were included to analyze the efficiency of kesterite -based solar cells,” the scientists noted. The cell properties were investigated at 300 K under standard lighting conditions.
An important finding was that increased operating temperatures negatively influenced solar cells, with a noticeable decrease in efficiency in all configurations as the temperature rose.
After optimizing all parameters, the simulation showed a maximum efficiency of 33.56%. The values of open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and filling factor were 1,110866 V, 33,994 Mon/Cm² and 88,87142%respectively.
The results confirmed that the ideal thickness to achieve the highest efficiency in this device is 1 μm. The team said that “optimum CUO thickness” improves the open circuit voltage and reduces recombination, and notes that if the CUO layer is too thick, it generates resistive losses and generates a lower open circuit voltage and short-circuit current density.
The work was presented in “Numerical simulation and optimization of FTO/TIO2/CZTS/CUO/AU sun cell using scaps-1d“Published in Natural scientific reports.
“The findings from these simulations will serve as an important initial step in identifying the optimum conditions for producing very efficient solar devices,” the team said.
It indicated that future research could concentrate on replacing the CUO by CU2O as the hole transport layer to improve “gap mobility and improve the tire gap” for greater efficiency and cargo transport. It also suggested that further research could investigate the replacement of gold by Molybdenen for more sustainable and affordable back contacts.
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