Piezo-photovoltaic device operations

We consider thin-film PV operations in a situation when one of the films possesses piezo- (pyro-) electric properties. Two types of such systems are CdTe and CIGS PV, both using well-known piezoelectric material CdS as a part of their structure. We model device operation for two cases of CdS layer polarization in a range of realistic values of electric field and compare it with standard p-n junction picture. Behavior of major PV parameters and practical ways of device optimization are discussed. We show that field reversal in piezo- (pyro-) photovoltaics is generally beneficial and makes the PV technology more forgiving and reliable.