• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2016.02a
• /
• pp.431-431
• /
• 2016

Typical Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS)-based solar cells have a buffer layer between CIGS absorber layer and transparent ZnO front electrode, which plays an important role in improving the cell performance. Among various buffer materials, chemical bath deposition (CBD)-ZnS is being steadily studied to alternative to conventional CdS and the efficiency of CBD-ZnS/CIGS solar cell shows the comparable values with that of CdS/CIGS solar cell. The intriguing thing is that reversible changes occur after exposure to illumination due to the metastable defect states in completed ZnS/CIGS solar cell, which induces an improvement of solar cell performance. Thus, it implies that the understanding of metastable defects in CBD-ZnS/CIGS solar cell is important issue. In this study, we fabricate the ITO/i-ZnO/CBD-ZnS/CIGS/Mo/SLG solar cells by controlling the NH4OH mole concentration (from 2 M to 3.5 M) of CBD-ZnS buffer layer and observe their conversion efficiency with and without light soaking for 1 hr. From the results, NH4OH mole concentration and light exposure can significantly affect the CBD-ZnS/CIGS solar cell performance. In order to investigate that which layer can contain metastable defect states to influence on solar cell performance, impedance spectroscopy and capacitance profiling technique with exposure to illumination have been applied to CBD-ZnS/CIGS solar cell. These techniques give a very useful information on the density of states within the bandgap of CIGS, free carriers density, and light-induced metastable effects. Here, we present the rearranged charge distribution after exposure to illumination and suggest the origin of the metastable defect states in CBD-ZnS/CIGS solar cell.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2008.05a
• /
• pp.436-437
• /
• 2008

Flexible CIGS thin film solar cell was fabricated using STS430 plate as a flexible substrate in this work. A diffusion barrier layer of $SiO_2$ thin film was deposited on STS430 substrate by PECVD followed by deposition of double layered Mo back contact. After depositing CIGS absorber layer by co-evaporation, CdS buffer layer by chemical bath deposition, ZnO window layer by RF sputtering and Al electrode by thermal evaporation, the solar cell fabrication processes were completed and its performance was evaluated. Corresponding solar cell showed an conversion efficiency of 8.35 % with $V_{OC}$ of 0.52 V, $J_{SC}$ of 26.06 mA/$cm^2$ and FF of 0.61.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.157-163
• /
• 2020

This paper is a product design convergence study to improve the aesthetic quality of CIGS solar cells for utilizing urban living structures, identifying problems of existing solar cell panels and drawing expert aesthetic elements for improving CIGS solar cells through survey and [Group discussion of experts] based on aesthetic elements of product design. Out of the aesthetic elements derived, the top three models of the product design process were 'environmental harmonization', 'pattern balance', and 'period universality' to derive the design and assembly design of the CIGS solar cell module for improving aesthetic quality, and applied to apartments, veranda, windows, and streetcar through product simulation. This study is suitable for applying aesthetic and CIGS solar cell function later to actual urban living structure, and future research direction needs to be studied on various patterns and structural design development of design.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2011.08a
• /
• pp.376-376
• /
• 2011

I-III-VI2 chalcopyrite compounds, particularly copper, indium, gallium selenide(Cu(InxGa1-x)Se2, CIGS), are effective light-absorbing materials in thin-film solar application. They are direct band-gap semiconductors with correspondingly high optical absorption coefficients. Also they are stable under long-term excitation. CIS (CIGS) solar cell reached conversion efficiencies as high as 19.5%. Several methods to prepare CIS (CIGS) absorber films have been reported, such as co-evaporation, sputtering, selenization, and electrodeposition. Until now, co-evaporation is the most successful technique for the preparation of CIS (CIGS) in terms of solar efficiency, but it seems difficult to scale up. CIS solar cells have been hindered by high costs associated with a fabrication process. Therefore, inorganic colloidal ink suitable for a scalable coating process could be a key step in the development of low-cost solar cells. Here, we will present the preparation of CIS photo absorption layer by a solution process using novel metal precursors. Chalcopyrite copper indium diselenide (CuInSe2) nanocrystals ranging from 5 to 20nm in diameter were synthesized by arrested precipitation in solution. For the fabrication of CIS photo absorption layer, the CuInSe2 colloidal ink was prepared by dispersing in organic solvent and used to drop-casting on molybdenum substrate. We have characterized the nanoparticless and CIS layer by XRD, SEM, TEM, and ICP.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.02a
• /
• pp.415-415
• /
• 2013

We have investigated the optical and electrical properties of the CIGS thin film solar cells by the electroreflectance (ER), photoreflectance (PR), photoluminescence (PL), and photocurrent (PC) spectroscopies at room temperature. The ER spectrum had two narrow signal regions and one broad signal region. We measured PL and PC to confirm the signals at low energy region (1.02~1.35 eV), so these signals are related to the CIGS thin film, and the high energy region (2.10~2.52 eV) is related to the CdS bandgap energy. The broad signal region (1.35~2.09 eV) is due to the internal electric field by the p-n junction from the comparison between PR and ER spectra, and we calculated the internal electric field by the p-n junction. In the high efficiency solar cell, the CdS signal of ER spectrum is narrower than the lower efficiency solar cells.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.131-135
• /
• 2020

Silver nanowire (AgNW) networks have been adopted as a front electrode in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells due to their low cost and compatibility with the solution process. When an AgNW network is applied to a CIGS thin film solar cell, reflection loss can increase because the CdS layer, with a relatively high refractive index (n ~ 2.5 at 550 nm), is exposed to air. To resolve the issue, we apply solution-processed ZnO nanorods to the AgNW network as an anti-reflective coating. To obtain high performance of the optical and electrical properties of the ZnO nanorod and AgNW network composite, we optimize the process parameters - the spin coating of AgNWs and the concentration of zinc nitrate and hexamethylene tetramine (HMT - to fabricate ZnO nanorods. We verify that 10 mM of zinc nitrate and HMT show the lowest reflectance and 10% cell efficiency increase when applied to CIGS thin film solar cells.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.52-58
• /
• 2013

Two different window-structured $CuInGaSe_2$(CIGS) solar cells, i.e., CIGS/thin-CdS/ZnO:B(sample A) and CIGS/very thin-CdS/Zn(S/O)/ZnO:B(sample B), were prepared, and the diffusivity of Zn, Cd, S, and B atoms, respectively, in the CIGS, ZnO or Zn(S/O) layer was estimated by a theoretical fit to experimental secondary ion mass spectrometer data. Diffusivities of Zn, Cd, S, and B atoms in CIGS were $2.0{\times}10^{-13}(1.5{\times}10^{-13})$, $4.6{\times}10^{-13}(4.4{\times}10^{-13})$, $1.6{\times}10^{-13}(1.8{\times}10^{-13})$, and $1.2{\times}10^{-12}cm^2/s$ at 423K, respectively, where the values in parentheses were obtained from sample B and the others from sample A. The diffusivity of the B atom in a Zn(S/O) of sample B was $2.1{\times}10^{-14}cm^2/sec$. Moreover, the diffusivities of Cd and S atoms diffusing back into ZnO(sample A) or Zn(S/O)(sample A) layers were extremely low at 423K, and the estimated diffusion coefficients were $2.2{\times}10^{-15}cm^2/s$ for Cd and $3.0{\times}10^{-15}cm^2/s$ for S.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.65-70
• /
• 2015

We applied KF on CIGS film to modify CIGS surface with a wider-bandgap surface layer. With the KF deposition the surface of CIGS film had fine particle on the CIGS surface at 350 and $300^{\circ}C$. No fine particle was detected at 500 and $250^{\circ}C$. With the KF treatment, the Ga and O content increased at the surface, while the In and Cu content decreased. The valence band maximum was lowered with KF treatment. The composition profile and band structure were positive side of applying KF on the CIGS surface. However, the efficiency decreased with the KF treatment due to high series resistance, probably due to too thick surface layer. A smaller amount of KF should be supplied and more systematic analysis is necessary to obtain a reproducible higher efficiency CIGS solar cells.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.59-62
• /
• 2014

Minority carrier diffusion length is one of the most important parameters of solar cells, especially for short circuit current density (Jsc). In this report, we proposed the calculating method of the minority carrier diffusion length ($L_n$) in CIGS solar cells through biased quantum efficiency (QE). To verify this method's reliability, we chose two CIGS samples which have different grain size and calculated $L_n$ for each sample. First of all, we calculated out that $L_n$ was 56nm and 97nm for small and large grain sized-cell through this method, respectively. Second, we found out the large grain sized-cell has about 7 times lower defect density than the small grain sized-cell using drive level capacitance profiling (DLCP) method. Consequently, we confirmed that $L_n$ was mainly affected by the micro-structure and defect density of CIGS layer, and could explain the cause of Jsc difference between two samples having same band gap.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.96-105
• /
• 2021

Even though above 22% efficiencies have been reported in Cd-free Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cell with Zn-containing buffers, the efficiencies with Zn-containing buffers, in general, are well below 20%. One of the reasons is Zn diffusion from the Zn-containing buffer layer to CIGS film during buffer growth. To avoid the degradation, it is necessary to prevent the diffusion of Zn atoms from Zn-containing buffer to CIGS film. For the purpose, we characterized an In₂Se₃ film as a possible diffusion barrier layer because In₂Se₃ has no Zn component. It was found that an In₂Se₃ layer grown at 300℃ was very effective in preventing Zn diffusion from a Zn-containing buffer. Also, the In₂Se₃ had a large potential barrier in the valence band at the In₂Se₃/CIGS interface. Therefore, In₂Se₃ passivation has the potential to achieve a super-high efficiency in CIGS solar cells that employ Cd-free ALD processed buffers containing Zn.