Next Generation Materials for Thin-Film Solar Cells: Synthesis and Characterization

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2022) | Viewed by 5001

Special Issue Editor

Department of Solid State Sciences, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, S1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Interests: solar cells; thin-film materials; advance characterization techniques; modelling and simulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Unlike conventional silicon cells, thin-film solar cells consist of a thin (in the order of micrometers) active layer deposited on a passive or inert substrate, e.g., glass, plastic or metallic foil. Thus far, the world record for efficiency in thin-film solar cell technology was achieved with the CIGSe absorber material, which demonstrated an efficiency of over 23%, comparable to the efficiency of silicon-wafer-based solar cells.

However, due to the scarcity, high cost and toxicity of some of the constituent elements of CIGSe absorbers, the use of alternative materials based on Earth-abundant, low-cost and non-toxic elements is required. To this end, various new materials have been proposed and used also in an attempt to reduce the manufacturing costs.

This Special Issue is dedicated to the next generation of materials, including Earth-abundant and newly emerging materials, designed for thin-film solar cell technology, such as Cu2ZnSn(Se,S)4 kesterite and their related materials obtained by cation substitution by, e.g., Ag, Ge, Ba, Sr, Mn, hybrid organic–inorganic, chalcogenide perovskite and antimony chalcogenide materials. The issue covers new synthesis processes for the preparation of all layers of thin-film solar cells, combined with advanced techniques for the characterization of the bulk, interfaces and surfaces. Theoretical calculations, modeling and simulation are important in order to acquire a better understanding of the device’s performance and its limitations. Therefore, theoretical analysis and device simulation related to charge carrier transport, defects and so on are also within the scope of this Special Issue.

Dr. Samira Khelifi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • kesterite
  • antimony chalcogenide
  • chalcogenide perovskite
  • hybrid organic–inorganic
  • advanced characterization
  • device modeling
  • numerical simulation

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

10 pages, 4879 KiB  
Article
Revisiting the Cu-Zn Disorder in Kesterite Type Cu2ZnSnSe4 Employing a Novel Approach to Hybrid Functional Calculations
by Daniel Fritsch
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(5), 2576; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12052576 - 02 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1989
Abstract
In recent years, the search for more efficient and environmentally friendly materials to be employed in the next generation of thin film solar cell devices has seen a shift towards hybrid halide perovskites and chalcogenide materials crystallising in the kesterite crystal structure. Prime [...] Read more.
In recent years, the search for more efficient and environmentally friendly materials to be employed in the next generation of thin film solar cell devices has seen a shift towards hybrid halide perovskites and chalcogenide materials crystallising in the kesterite crystal structure. Prime examples for the latter are Cu2ZnSnS4, Cu2ZnSnSe4, and their solid solution Cu2ZnSn(SxSe1x)4, where actual devices already demonstrated power conversion efficiencies of about 13 %. However, in their naturally occurring kesterite crystal structure, the so-called Cu-Zn disorder plays an important role and impacts the structural, electronic, and optical properties. To understand the influence of Cu-Zn disorder, we perform first-principles calculations based on density functional theory combined with special quasirandom structures to accurately model the cation disorder. Since the electronic band gaps and derived optical properties are severely underestimated by (semi)local exchange and correlation functionals, supplementary hybrid functional calculations have been performed. Concerning the latter, we additionally employ a recently devised technique to speed up structural relaxations for hybrid functional calculations. Our calculations show that the Cu-Zn disorder leads to a slight increase in the unit cell volume compared to the conventional kesterite structure showing full cation order, and that the band gap gets reduced by about 0.2 eV, which is in very good agreement with earlier experimental and theoretical findings. Our detailed results on structural, electronic, and optical properties will be discussed with respect to available experimental data, and will provide further insights into the atomistic origin of the disorder-induced band gap lowering in these promising kesterite type materials. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 3071 KiB  
Article
Vapor-Phase Incorporation of Ge in CZTSe Absorbers for Improved Stability of High-Efficiency Kesterite Solar Cells
by David Nowak, Talat Khonsor, Devendra Pareek and Levent Gütay
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 1376; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12031376 - 27 Jan 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2169
Abstract
We report an approach to incorporate Ge into Cu2ZnSnSe4 using GeSe vapor during the selenization step of alloyed metallic precursors. The vapor incorporation slowly begins at T ≈ 480 °C and peaks at 530 °C, resulting in a Ge-based composition [...] Read more.
We report an approach to incorporate Ge into Cu2ZnSnSe4 using GeSe vapor during the selenization step of alloyed metallic precursors. The vapor incorporation slowly begins at T ≈ 480 °C and peaks at 530 °C, resulting in a Ge-based composition shift inside the previously formed kesterite layer. We initially observe the formation of a Ge-rich surface layer that merges into a homogeneous distribution of the incorporated element during the further dwelling stage of the annealing. This approach is very versatile and could be used in many similar fabrication processes for incorporating Ge into CZTSe-absorber layers. Because the vapor-based composition shift in the layer happens after the formation of the absorber film towards the end of the fabrication process, most process parameters and the precursor structure may not need any significant re-optimization. The careful integration of this step could help to reduce Sn-related deep defects and accompanying VOC losses. The best CZTGSe-power-conversion efficiency obtained in this series is 10.4 % (with EG = 1.22 eV, FF = 54%, JSC = 36 mA/cm2, VOC = 540 mV, VOCdef,SQ = 417 mV). These results demonstrate the potential of this approach for Ge incorporation into kesterite absorbers. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop