Title :
Six-year efficiency gains for CdTe and CuIn1-xGax Se2 solar cells: what has changed?
Author :
Sites, James R. ; Liu, Xiaoxiang
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Phys., Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO, USA
Abstract :
During a period of six years from roughly 1987 to 1993, a number of laboratories have contributed to efficiency gains for thin-film cells with polycrystalline CdTe and CuIn1-xGaSe2 (CIGS) absorbers. Total-area efficiencies have increased from just above 10% to over 16%, and these cells can now be sensibly compared with single-crystal cells of comparable bandgap. A number of factors have contributed to these gains, but the most significant has been the reduction of recombination states in the depletion region and the resulting drop in forward-current density
Keywords :
II-VI semiconductors; cadmium compounds; copper compounds; electron-hole recombination; indium compounds; semiconductor materials; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; ternary semiconductors; 10 to 16 percent; 6 y; CdTe; CdTe solar cells; Cu(InGa)Se2; CuIn1-xGaxSe2 solar cells; J-V characteristics; depletion region; efficiency gains; forward-current density drop; junction quality; recombination states reduction; thin-film solar cells; Capacitance; Diodes; Grain boundaries; Lighting; Photoconductivity; Photonic band gap; Photovoltaic cells; Q factor; Solids; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 1994., Conference Record of the Twenty Fourth. IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1994, 1994 IEEE First World Conference on
Conference_Location :
Waikoloa, HI
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-1460-3
DOI :
10.1109/WCPEC.1994.519822
