Solar Cells: New Approaches and Reviews

397 Pages·2015·20.956 MB·English

by  Leonid A. Kosyachenko

Solar Cells
New Approaches and Reviews
Edited by Leonid A. Kosyachenko
Solar Cells: New Approaches and Reviews
Edited by Leonid A. Kosyachenko
Published by AvE4EvA
Copyright © 2015
All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for
commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which
ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work
has been published, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in
any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the
work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify
the original source.
As for readers, this license allows users to download, copy and build upon published
chapters even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly
credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications.
Notice
Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors
and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the
accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no
responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any
materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book.
Publishing Process Manager
Technical Editor AvE4EvA MuViMix Records
Cover Designer
Published: 22 October, 2015
ISBN-10: 953-51-2184-7
ISBN-13: 978-953-51-2184-8

C ontents
Preface
Chapter 1 A Theoretical Description of Thin-Film Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar
Cell Performance
by Leonid A. Kosyachenko
Chapter 2 Theoretical Calculation of the Efficiency Limit for Solar
Cells
by Abderrahmane Belghachi
Chapter 3 Crystal Structures of CH3NH3PbI3 and Related Perovskite
Compounds Used for Solar Cells
by Takeo Oku
Chapter 4 New Approaches to Practical High-Effective Solar Energy
Conversion
by Viktor I. Laptev and Halyna Khlyap
Chapter 5 Towards 50% Efficiency in Solar Cells
by Luis M. Hernández, Armando Contreras-Solorio, Agustín
Enciso, Carlos I. Cabrera, Maykel Courel, James P. Connolly and
Julio C. Rimada
Chapter 6 Solar Cell Efficiency Increase at High Solar Concentration,
by Thermionic Escape via Tuned Lattice-Matched Superlattices
by A.C. Varonides
Chapter 7 Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy: A Powerful
Experimental Technique for Understanding the Physics and
Engineering of Photo-Carrier Generation, Escape, Loss and
Collection Processes in Photovoltaic Materials
by Aurangzeb Khan and Yamaguchi Masafumi
Chapter 8 Inorganic–Organic Perovskite Solar Cells
by Sohrab Ahmadi Kandjani, Soghra Mirershadi and Arash
Nikniaz
VI Contents
Chapter 9 The Physics of High-Efficiency Thin-Film III-V Solar Cells
by Roger E. Welser, Ashok K. Sood, Ramesh B.
Laghumavarapu, Diana L. Huffaker, David M. Wilt, Nibir K. Dhar and
Kimberly A. Sablon
Chapter 10 Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells with Nickel/Copper Contacts
by Atteq ur Rehman and Soo Hong Lee
Chapter 11 Quantum Dots Solar Cells
by Khalil Ebrahim Jasim
Chapter 12 Solar Cells with InGaN/GaN and InP/InGaAsP and InGaP/
GaAs Multiple Quantum Wells
by Shaoguang Dong, Kanghua Chen, Guojie Chen and Xin
Chen
Chapter 13 Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells — Opportunities and
Challenges
by Qun Ye and Jian Wei Xu

Preface
This book contains chapters in which the problems of modern
photovoltaics are considered.
The majority of the chapters provide an overview of the results
of research and development of different types of solar cells.
Such chapters are completed by a justification for a new solar
cell structure and technology. Of course, highly effective solar
energy conversion is impossible without an in-depth
examination of the solar cell components as physical materials.
The relations between structural, thermodynamic, and optical
properties of the physical material without addressing the band
theory of solids are of both theoretical and practical interest.
Requirements formulated for the material are also to be used for
maximally efficient conversion of solar radiation into useful work.

Chapter 1
A Theoretical Description of Thin-Film Cu(In,Ga)Se Solar
2
Cell Performance
Leonid A. Kosyachenko
Additional information is available at the end of the chapter
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/59363
1. Introduction
For a long time, solar cells based on CuIn GaSe (Cu(In,Ga)Se, CIGS), similar to CdTe-based
1-x x 2 2
devices, keep a stable position in thin-film photovoltaics as an alternative to solar modules
based on mono- and poly-silicon wafers. The I-III-VI CIGS alloy is a solid solution of copper
indium diselenide (CIS) and copper gallium diselenide (CGS). This alloy is tolerant in terms
of material stability and miscibility in a wide range of x, when the semiconductor bandgap
varies continuously from about 1.0 eV for CIS to about 1.65 eV for CGS. Irrespective of the
material composition, CIGS is a direct-bandgap semiconductor and strongly absorbs sunlight.
Because of its high optical absorption coefficient, a much thinner film is required compared to
many other semiconductor materials (1–2 μm is enough to absorb most of the sunlight).
To date, mass production of cost-effective thin-film polycrystalline and monolithically
interconnected CIGS-based modules has been achieved by many companies worldwide. Since
2007, one Japanese company Solar Frontier, alone for example, delivered over 1 GW CIGS
modules. The CIGS devices demonstrate excellent long-term stability; can be fabricated on
lightweight and flexible substrates that are desirable for portable, building-integrated photo‐
voltaics and many other applications when solar panels are used to replace conventional
building materials in parts of the roof or facades. It should also be noted that the CIGS modules,
in addition to their long-term stability, have shown higher resistance to ionizing radiation
compared to crystalline Si and III-V solar cells, i.e., such devices are promising for space
application [1].
The energy conversion efficiency of CIGS modules is in the range of 12-15%, but for small area
laboratory cells, the efficiency milestone of > 20% was achieved in 2010 [2]. In 2014, Solar
Frontier has achieved 20.8% energy conversion efficiency for small area CIGS cells and
Zentrum für Sonnenenergie-und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) shortly