Numerical modelling of ultra thin Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells

Nowshad Amin; Puvaneswaran Chelvanathan; M. Istiaque Hossain; Kamaruzzaman Sopian

doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.034

Numerical modelling of ultra thin Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ solar cells

Nowshad Amin^*, Puvaneswaran Chelvanathan, M. Istiaque Hossain, Kamaruzzaman Sopian

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Conference article › peer-review

69 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Various thicknesses of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) absorber layer are incorporated into numerical simulation by Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS) to investigate the performance of ultra thin CIGS solar cells. CuIn _1-xGa _xSe ₂ absorber layer thickness is varied from 0.3-1.0 μm. Results show that the performance of CIGS solar cells decreases as the absorber layer thickness is decreased. Conversion efficiencies of 10.74% and 14.36% are achieved for cells with 0.3 μm and 1.0 μm thick absorber layers, respectively. Incorporation of band gap grading or commonly known as back surface field in the ultra thin CIGS solar cells improves the performance of the cells. In this study, back surface field is incorporated in the numerical modelling of the ultrathin CIGS solar cells. For the graded cells, efficiencies of 12.38% and 17.26% are achieved for cells with 0.3 μm and 1.0 μm thick absorber layers. These improvements are attributed to the less recombination loss at the CIGS/Mo interface. This study shows ultra thin CIGS solar cells have comparable performance parameters with the conventional CIGS solar cells.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	291-298
Number of pages	8
Journal	Energy Procedia
Volume	15
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.034
Publication status	Published - 2012
Externally published	Yes
Event	6th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies, ICMAT 2011 - Singapore, Singapore Duration: 26 Jun 2011 → 1 Jul 2011

Keywords

CIGS
SCAPS
Solar cells
Ultra thin film

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10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.034

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title = "Numerical modelling of ultra thin Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells",

abstract = "Various thicknesses of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) absorber layer are incorporated into numerical simulation by Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS) to investigate the performance of ultra thin CIGS solar cells. CuIn 1-xGa xSe 2 absorber layer thickness is varied from 0.3-1.0 μm. Results show that the performance of CIGS solar cells decreases as the absorber layer thickness is decreased. Conversion efficiencies of 10.74% and 14.36% are achieved for cells with 0.3 μm and 1.0 μm thick absorber layers, respectively. Incorporation of band gap grading or commonly known as back surface field in the ultra thin CIGS solar cells improves the performance of the cells. In this study, back surface field is incorporated in the numerical modelling of the ultrathin CIGS solar cells. For the graded cells, efficiencies of 12.38% and 17.26% are achieved for cells with 0.3 μm and 1.0 μm thick absorber layers. These improvements are attributed to the less recombination loss at the CIGS/Mo interface. This study shows ultra thin CIGS solar cells have comparable performance parameters with the conventional CIGS solar cells.",

keywords = "CIGS, SCAPS, Solar cells, Ultra thin film",

author = "Nowshad Amin and Puvaneswaran Chelvanathan and Hossain, {M. Istiaque} and Kamaruzzaman Sopian",

year = "2012",

doi = "10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.034",

language = "English",

volume = "15",

pages = "291--298",

journal = "Energy Procedia",

issn = "1876-6102",

publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",

note = "6th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies, ICMAT 2011 ; Conference date: 26-06-2011 Through 01-07-2011",

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T1 - Numerical modelling of ultra thin Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells

AU - Amin, Nowshad

AU - Chelvanathan, Puvaneswaran

AU - Hossain, M. Istiaque

AU - Sopian, Kamaruzzaman

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - Various thicknesses of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) absorber layer are incorporated into numerical simulation by Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS) to investigate the performance of ultra thin CIGS solar cells. CuIn 1-xGa xSe 2 absorber layer thickness is varied from 0.3-1.0 μm. Results show that the performance of CIGS solar cells decreases as the absorber layer thickness is decreased. Conversion efficiencies of 10.74% and 14.36% are achieved for cells with 0.3 μm and 1.0 μm thick absorber layers, respectively. Incorporation of band gap grading or commonly known as back surface field in the ultra thin CIGS solar cells improves the performance of the cells. In this study, back surface field is incorporated in the numerical modelling of the ultrathin CIGS solar cells. For the graded cells, efficiencies of 12.38% and 17.26% are achieved for cells with 0.3 μm and 1.0 μm thick absorber layers. These improvements are attributed to the less recombination loss at the CIGS/Mo interface. This study shows ultra thin CIGS solar cells have comparable performance parameters with the conventional CIGS solar cells.

AB - Various thicknesses of copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) absorber layer are incorporated into numerical simulation by Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS) to investigate the performance of ultra thin CIGS solar cells. CuIn 1-xGa xSe 2 absorber layer thickness is varied from 0.3-1.0 μm. Results show that the performance of CIGS solar cells decreases as the absorber layer thickness is decreased. Conversion efficiencies of 10.74% and 14.36% are achieved for cells with 0.3 μm and 1.0 μm thick absorber layers, respectively. Incorporation of band gap grading or commonly known as back surface field in the ultra thin CIGS solar cells improves the performance of the cells. In this study, back surface field is incorporated in the numerical modelling of the ultrathin CIGS solar cells. For the graded cells, efficiencies of 12.38% and 17.26% are achieved for cells with 0.3 μm and 1.0 μm thick absorber layers. These improvements are attributed to the less recombination loss at the CIGS/Mo interface. This study shows ultra thin CIGS solar cells have comparable performance parameters with the conventional CIGS solar cells.

KW - CIGS

KW - SCAPS

KW - Solar cells

KW - Ultra thin film

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U2 - 10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.034

DO - 10.1016/j.egypro.2012.02.034

M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:84860512854

SN - 1876-6102

VL - 15

SP - 291

EP - 298

JO - Energy Procedia

JF - Energy Procedia

T2 - 6th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies, ICMAT 2011

Y2 - 26 June 2011 through 1 July 2011

ER -

Numerical modelling of ultra thin Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ solar cells

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