TY - JOUR
T1 - Wide band gap kesterite absorbers for thin film solar cells
T2 - Potential and challenges for their deployment in tandem devices
AU - Vermang, Bart
AU - Brammertz, Guy
AU - Meuris, Marc
AU - Schnabel, Thomas
AU - Ahlswede, Erik
AU - Choubrac, Leo
AU - Harel, Sylvie
AU - Cardinaud, Christophe
AU - Arzel, Ludovic
AU - Barreau, Nicolas
AU - Van Deelen, Joop
AU - Bolt, Pieter Jan
AU - Bras, Patrice
AU - Ren, Yi
AU - Jaremalm, Eric
AU - Khelifi, Samira
AU - Yang, Sheng
AU - Lauwaert, Johan
AU - Batuk, Maria
AU - Hadermann, Joke
AU - Kozina, Xeniya
AU - Handick, Evelyn
AU - Hartmann, Claudia
AU - Gerlach, Dominic
AU - Matsuda, Asahiko
AU - Ueda, Shigenori
AU - Chikyow, Toyohiro
AU - Félix, Roberto
AU - Zhang, Yufeng
AU - Wilks, Regan G.
AU - Bär, Marcus
N1 - Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under grant agreement No. 640868. The synchrotron radiation experiments were performed at the SPring-8 beamline BL15XU with the approval of the NIMS Synchrotron X-ray Station (Proposals 2016A4600, 2016B4601, and 2017A4600) and at BESSY II with the approval of HZB. B. Vermang has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement no. 715027).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - This work reports on developments in the field of wide band gap Cu2ZnXY4 (with X = Sn, Si or Ge, and Y = S, Se) kesterite thin film solar cells. An overview on recent developments and the current understanding of wide band gap kesterite absorber layers, alternative buffer layers, and suitable transparent back contacts is presented. Cu2ZnGe(S,Se)4 absorbers with absorber band gaps up to 1.7 eV have been successfully developed and integrated into solar cells. Combining a CdS buffer layer prepared by an optimized chemical bath deposition process with a 1.36 eV band gap absorber resulted in a record Cu2ZnGeSe4 cell efficiency of 7.6%, while the highest open-circuit voltage of 730 mV could be obtained for a 1.54 eV band gap absorber and a Zn(O,S) buffer layer. Employing InZnOx or TiO2 protective top layers on SnO2:In transparent back contacts yields 85-90% of the solar cell performance of reference cells (with Mo back contact). These advances show the potential as well as the challenges of wide band gap kesterites for future applications in high-efficiency and low-cost tandem photovoltaic devices.
AB - This work reports on developments in the field of wide band gap Cu2ZnXY4 (with X = Sn, Si or Ge, and Y = S, Se) kesterite thin film solar cells. An overview on recent developments and the current understanding of wide band gap kesterite absorber layers, alternative buffer layers, and suitable transparent back contacts is presented. Cu2ZnGe(S,Se)4 absorbers with absorber band gaps up to 1.7 eV have been successfully developed and integrated into solar cells. Combining a CdS buffer layer prepared by an optimized chemical bath deposition process with a 1.36 eV band gap absorber resulted in a record Cu2ZnGeSe4 cell efficiency of 7.6%, while the highest open-circuit voltage of 730 mV could be obtained for a 1.54 eV band gap absorber and a Zn(O,S) buffer layer. Employing InZnOx or TiO2 protective top layers on SnO2:In transparent back contacts yields 85-90% of the solar cell performance of reference cells (with Mo back contact). These advances show the potential as well as the challenges of wide band gap kesterites for future applications in high-efficiency and low-cost tandem photovoltaic devices.
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U2 - 10.1039/c9se00266a
DO - 10.1039/c9se00266a
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071198848
VL - 3
SP - 2246
EP - 2259
JO - Sustainable Energy and Fuels
JF - Sustainable Energy and Fuels
SN - 2398-4902
IS - 9
ER -
