The efilm is a rollable and lightweight solar film material designed for integration into customized projects in aerospace, automotive, space or industrial applications. Electronselective tio2 contact for cuin,gase2 solar cells. Pdf highefficiency cigs solar cells with optimization of layers. Among them, the cigs solar cells show the highest efficiency both in cells and modules. Highvolume manufacturing of flexible and lightweight cigs. In reality, siliconwafer cells achieve, on average, 15 to 25 percent efficiency. Although cigs solar cells are considered to be in the early stages of largescale commercialization, they can be produced by. However, the main material issue with cigs solar cells is the price of indium. Properties of highefficiency cigs thinfilm solar cells kannan ramanathan, james keane, and rommel noufi national center for photovoltaics, national renewable energy laboratory, 1617 cole boulevard, golden co 80401. While cigs with state of the art composition works well for 4terminal tandems, the current matching constraint. Pdf copper indium gallium selenide based solar cells a. Modelling and optimization of cigs solar cell modules. Cigs solar cells on flexible substrates can also be used for building integrated photovoltaics. Finding a way to boost efficiency of cigs solar cells.
Starting from the results regarding a nonvacuum technique to fabricate cigs thin films for solar cells by means of singlestep electrodeposition, we focus on the. The first major decision is whether or not to make individual solar cells the choice between singulated cells vs. Among all thin film technologies, solar cells based on cuin,gase 2 cigs absorbers yield the best performance1. This paper deals with the influence of a buffer layer on the performance of the cigsbased solar cells. Enhancing passive radiative cooling properties of flexible. Pdf copper indium gallium selenide cigs based solar cells are receiving worldwide attention for solar power generation. Thinfilm solar cells are finally becoming competitive. A copper indium gallium selenide solar cell is a thinfilm solar cell used to convert sunlight into. There are health concerns with the use of cadmium in thinfilm solar cells. They are efficient thin film solar cells that have achieved 22. The efficiency of cdte solar cells has reached just more than 15 percent, and cigs solar cells have reached 20 percent efficiency. The values of optical and electrical properties of the materials, used as inputs, have been collected from the literature. In a cigs solar cell module several cells are connected in series. Reliability of cigs modules us department of energy.
The efilm is made out of customizable array of serial connected cigs thin film solar cells by a laser patterning process based upon a light flexible polymeric substrate. Solyndra was not a cigs failure, but an architecture failure. Solar cellrelevant work started at bell laboratories in the early 1970s. Analysis based on experimental and simulation results show that a 3. Silicon has history on its side, but the future may lie in cigs. Copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cells. High efficiency cdte and cigs thin film solar cells. When alloying the cuinse 2 cis with ga to form cigs thin. In this paper, we investigate the laser processing of the cigs thinfilm solar cells in the case of the highspeed regime.
Fibsem investigations of the microstructure of cigs solar. For example, the cylindrical substrate used at solyndra doomed the technology from the beginning. Highvolume manufacturing of flexible and lightweight cigs solar cells j. Copper indium gallium selenide cigs based solar cells are receiving worldwide attention for solar power generation. National renewable energy laboratory national center for photovoltaics. Review on substrate and molybdenum back contact in cigs. The cdte and cigs solar cells show the rapid development trend in recent years. Department of energy, office of energy efficiency and renewable energy, operated by the alliance for sustainable energy, llc.
Cigs thinfilm photovoltaics the time to invest is now. If the carbon footprint is also taken into account there is a clear advantage of thin film solar cells and a real chance. Another common variation of this cell is the copper indium gallium diselenide cigs. Figure 1b shows the sensitive part as a specimen in sample holder.
Most enterprises favour the crystalline technology because of former problems. The modern ultrashort pulsed laser was used exhibiting the pulse. Properties of cigs solar cells were fabricated from thin absorbers 1 m. The leader in flexible, powerful, lightweight solar. Copper indium selenide cis solar cell cis cells are made with a thin layer of cuinse 2 on plain glass or flexible metal backing. Properties of high efficiency cigs thinfilm solar cells. Increasing the opencircuit voltage v oc to improve the overall performance of cigs cells is highly desirable because it minimizes the interconnection losses in the manufacture of cell modules. If all of it was used to make solar cells, we could generate 0. Copper indium gallium selenide based solar cells a. Cigs solar cells are superior to the conventional silicon and gallium arsenide solar cells in the space radiation environment. Cigs glassglass products cover the classical application fields of power plants. Irrespective of the bandgap of the doublecation perovskite absorber, pscs with 2d3d heterostructure exhibit reduced.
Simulation of high efficiency cigs solar cells with scaps. Cigs solar cells with efficiencies around 20% have been claimed by the national renewable energy laboratory nrel, the. Researchers engaged in the capitano project are combining thinfilm solar modules based on perovskite semiconductors with semiconductors made of copper, indium, gallium and selenium cigs. Global solar energys factory is located in tucson, arizona and produces flexible solar cells, based on our proprietary cigs thin film processes, innovative interconnect technology and module structures. Properties of high efficiency cigs thinfilm solar cells nrel. Such failure generally becomes more pronounced at lower temperatures. This combination is the key to building remarkably efficient tandem solar cells with all the advantages of thinfilm technology and an efficiency factor. Singlegraded cigs with narrow bandgap for tandem solar cells. We engineer the bandgap of the perovskite top solar cell to identify the best configuration for the 4t prototype devices. Light shining on the solar cell produces both a current and a voltage to generate electric power. High power density in a flexible form factor aperture e. Jv measurements under red light may also show an additional distortion, known historically as the red kink.
Aperture efficiency of up to 17% in a flexible form factor. The results imply that tio2 is a promising buffer layer material for cigs solar cells, avoiding the toxic cds buffer layer with added performance advantage. Pdf the effects of layers thickness and doping on the photovoltaic cell parameters in copperindiumgalliumdiselenide cigs based solar. Cigs2 thin film solar cells on flexible stainless steel ss may be able to increase the specific power by an order of magnitude from the current level of 65 wkg 1. An undoped layer of zno high resisitivity is first deposited on the cds, and this is followed by the deposition of a doped layer. In this paper, the high efficiency cuin,gase 2 cigsbased solar cells solar cells was analyzed and designed by scaps1d software. The series connection is made in an interconnect structure consisting of the three scribes. National renewable energy laboratory national center. We evaluated the thermal impact of the coating on solar cells for the proposed orbit of the gosolar mission. Cigs solar cell, thinfilm photovoltaic device that uses semiconductor layers of copper indium gallium selenide cigs to absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity. We then turn to cigs solar cells with a zns buffer layer and calculate. Figure 1c shows a slice of packaged cigs solar cell. Photovoltaic cigs module xsc initial product high power module. The sensitive part is the section with cigs solar cells, which is the functional area that transforms light energy to electrical energy.
High efficiency cdte and cigs thin film solar cells nrel. An alternative method for in situ cross section preparation for fibsem provides a useful substitute for the examination of all cigs cells, without requiring presence of a substrate. Umarov physicaltechnical institute, academy of sciences of the republic of tajikistan, 2991 aini ave, dushanbe 734062, tajikistan. The copper indium gallium diselenide cigs solar cell is one of the most efficient solar cells for standard 1sun application, with efficiencies of up to 22. In this study, the cdsecdzns coreshell quantum dots qds acting as a luminescent downshifting lds layer were inserted between the mgf2 antireflection coating and the window layer of the. An overview of solar cell technology stanford university. They have transitioned from the laboratory to the market place. The asi solar cells in the pv industry are fading away because of its relative low efficiency and instability. The current record efficiency of cigs has reached 22. Combustion behaviors of cigs thinfilm solar modules from. Cdte and cigs pv modules have the potential to reach cost effective pv generated electricity.
It is manufactured by depositing a thin layer of copper, indium, gallium and selenium on glass or plastic backing, along with electrodes on the front and back to collect current. The efilm is made out of customizable array of serial connected cigs thin film solar. In the fabrication of cigs solar cells, it is customary to use a highlow, resistivity grading of the zno layer. Table 1 presents the efficiencies of different thin film solar cells. Simulation of the efficiency of cdscigs tandem multi. Cells require encapsulation before use to protect against moisture and the environment.
A very similar story can be told for the in needed in cigs. Device modeling and simulation of the performance of cuin. Explanation of lightdark superposition failure in cigs. Highlights of the technologies challenges acknowledgement. This process requires firstly, a material in which the absorption of light raises an electron to a higher energy state. Copper indium gallium selenide cigs based solar cells have become one of the most promising candidates among the thin film technologies for solar power generation. Preliminary specification sheet cigs thin film solar modules.
However, material properties and efficiency on small area devices are crucial aspects to be. Numerical modeling and simulation of cigsbased solar. A wide selection of ternary chalcopyrite crystals were grown and characterized structural, electronic, and optical properties. Cis cells haves up to 14% efficiency with similar durability as silicon solar cells. Conventional cuin1x,gaxse2 cigs solar cells exhibit poor spectral response due to parasitic light absorption in the window and buffer layers at the short wavelength range between 300 and 520 nm. A copper indium gallium selenide solar cell or cigs cell, sometimes cigs or cis cell is a thinfilm solar cell used to convert sunlight into electric power. Photovoltaic technology for cigs and related materials. Pdf thin film cigs solar cells, photovoltaic modules, and the. Copper indium gallium selenide solar cells wikipedia.
White paper link for cigs thinfilm solar cell technology. Simulation of the efficiency of cdscigs tandem multijunction solar cells using amps1d ashrafalsadat s. The first cuinse2 solar cells by evaporating ntype cds onto. Cigs thin film solar cells are highly promising as bottom cells due to remarkably high efficiency and the tunable nature of the absorber bandgap. Effect of sodium diffusion on the properties of cigs solar. A solar cell is an electronic device which directly converts sunlight into electricity. Pdf a solar cell is an electronic device which directly converts sunlight into electricity.