• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.106.1-106.1
• /
• 2011

The Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film solar cells have been achieved until almost 20% efficiency by NREL. These solar cells include chemically deposited CdS as buffer layer between CIGS absorber layer and ZnO window layer. Although CIGS solar cells with CdS buffer layer show excellent performance, the short wavelength response of CIGS solar cell is limited by narrow CdS band gap of about 2.42 eV. Taking into consideration the environmental aspect, the toxic Cd element should be replaced by a different material. Among Cd-free candidate materials, the CIGS thin film solar cells with ZnS buffer layer seem to be promising with 17.2%(module by showa shell K.K.), 18.6%(small area by NREL). However, ZnS/CIGS solar cells still show lower performance than CdS/CIGS solar cells. There are several reported reasons to reduce the efficiency of ZnS/CIGS solar cells. Nakada reported ZnS thin film had many defects such as stacking faults, pin-holes, so that crytallinity of ZnS thin film is poor, compared to CdS thin film. Additionally, it was known that the hetero-interface between ZnS and CIGS layer made unfavorable band alignment. The unfavorable band alignment hinders electron transport at the heteo-interface. In this study, we focused on growing defect-free ZnS thin film and for favorable band alignment of ZnS/CIGS, bandgap of ZnS and CIGS, valece band structure of ZnS/CIGS were modified. Finally, we verified the photovoltaic properties of ZnS/CIGS solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2010.05a
• /
• pp.11.1-11.1
• /
• 2010

As one of the non-vacuum, low temperature fabrication route, electrochemical synthesis has been focused for pursuing the cost-effective pathway to produce high efficiency photovoltaic devices. Especially the availability to form the thin film structure on flexible substrate would be the great advantage of electrochemical process. The successful synthesis of the most favorable absorber materials such as CdTe and CIGS has been reported by many researchers, however, the efficiency of electrochemically synthesized could not exceed that from vacuum process, because of microstructural controllability and compositional variation on devices. In this study, we represent the effect of process parameters on the microstructure and composition of compound semiconductor during the synthesis, and propose the photovoltaic characteristics of electrochemically synthesized 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.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2009.06a
• /
• pp.83-84
• /
• 2009

Thin film solar cells based on CIGS continue to be a leading candidate for thin film photovoltaic devices due to their appropriate bandgap, long-term stability, and low-cost production. To date, the most successful technique for the deposition of a CIGS absorber layer has been based on the co-evaporation However, the evaporation process is difficult to scale-up for large-area manufacturing the sputtering and Selenizaton process has been a promising method for low-cost and large-scale production of high quality CIGS In this study, we have used Cu and CuIn alloy targets for precursor deposition the precursor deposited by sputtering Cu and CuIn targets and $CuInSe_2$ thin film is manufactured by Selenization process

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2012.03a
• /
• pp.394-396
• /
• 2012

Chemical bath deposition (CBD) process conditions for depositing CdS buffer layers was studied for high efficiencies of CIGS thin film solar cells. Growth rate of CdS thin films has an effect on surface morphology and quality of thin films. By the change of growth rate, CdS buffer layers showed a large difference in surface morphology and this difference was closely related with the photovoltaic properties of CIGS solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2011.02a
• /
• pp.158-158
• /
• 2011

$Cu(In_xGa_{1-x})Se_2$ (CIGS) thin film solar cell is one of the most promising solar cells in photovoltaic devices. CIGS has a direct band gap which varied from 1.0 to 1.26 eV, depending on the Ga to In ratio. Also, CIGS has been studying for an absorber in thin film solar cells due to their highest absorption coefficient which is $1{\times}10^5cm^{-1}$ and good stability for deposition process at high temperature of $450{\sim}590^{\circ}C$. Currently, the highest efficiency of CIGS thin film solar cell is approximately 20.3%, which is closely approaching to the efficiency of poly-silicon solar cell. The deposition technique is one of the most important points in preparing CIGS thin film solar cells. Among the various deposition techniques, the sputtering is known to be very effective and feasible process for mass production. In this study, CIGS thin films have been prepared by rf magnetron sputtering method using a single target. The optical and structural properties of CIGS films are generally dependent on deposition parameters. Therefore, we will explore the influence of deposition power on the properties of CIGS films and the films will be deposited by rf magnetron sputtering using CIGS single target on Mo coated soda lime glass at $500^{\circ}C$. The thickness of CIGS films will be measured by Tencor-P1 profiler. The optical properties will be measured by UV-visible spectroscopy. The crystal structure will be analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Finally the optimal deposition conditions for CIGS thin films will be developed.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2009.06a
• /
• pp.19-22
• /
• 2009

A non-vacuum process for fabrication of $CuIn_xGa_{1-x}Se_2$ (CIGS) absorber layer from the corresponing Cu, In, Ga solution precursors was described. Cu, In, Ga precursor solution was prepared by a room temperature colloidal route by reacting the starting materials $Cu(NO_3)_2$, $InCl_3$, $Ga(NO_3)$ and methanol. The Cu, In, Ga precursor solution was mixed with ethylcellulose as organic binder material for the rheology of the mixture to be adjusted for the doctor blade method. After depositing the mixture of Cu, In, Ga solution with binder on Mo/glass substrate, the samples were preheated on the hot plate in air to evaporate remaining solvents and to burn the organic binder material. Subsequently, the resultant CIG/Mo/glass sample was selenized in Se evaporation in order to get a solar cell applicable dense CIGS absorber layer. The CIGS absorber layer selenized at $530^{\circ}C$ substrate temperature for 1h with various metal organic ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2014.02a
• /
• pp.464.1-464.1
• /
• 2014

Among numerous material candidates, Cu(InxGa1-x)(SySe2-y) (CIGS) thin films have emerged as promising material candidates for thin film solar cell applications due to the high energy conversion efficiency and relatively low fabrication cost. The CIGS thin film solar cells consist of several materials, including Mo back contacts, ZnO-based window layers, and CdS buffer layers. All these materials have different crystal structures and contain quite distinct chemical elements, and hence the device characterization requires careful analyses. Most of all, identification of the major trap states resulting in the carrier recombination processes is a key step toward realization of high efficiency CIGS solar cells. We have carried out electrical investigations of CIGS thin film solar cells to specify the major trap states and their roles in photovoltaic performance. In particular, we have used the temperature-dependent transport characterizations and admittance spectroscopy. In this presentation, we will introduce some exemplary studies of DC and AC electrical characteristics of the CIGS solar cells.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.28 no.12
• /
• pp.748-757
• /
• 2018

Inorganic semiconductor compounds, e.g., CIGS and CZTS, are promising materials for thin film solar cells because of their high light absorption coefficient and stability. Research on thin film solar cells using this compound has made remarkable progress in the last two decades. Vacuum-based processes, e.g., co-evaporation and sputtering, are well established to obtain high-efficiency CIGS and/or CZTS thin film solar cells with over 20 % of power conversion. However, because the vacuum-based processes need high cost equipment, they pose technological barriers to producing low-cost and large area photovoltaic cells. Recently, non-vacuum based processes, for example the solution/nanoparticle precursor process, the electrodeposition method, or the polymer-capped precursors process, have been intensively studied to reduce capital expenditure. Lately, over 17 % of energy conversion efficiency has been reported by solution precursors methods in CIGS solar cells. This article reviews the status of non-vacuum techniques that are used to fabricate CIGS and CZTS thin films solar cells.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2012.08a
• /
• pp.88-88
• /
• 2012

High efficiency thin film photovoltaic device technology is reviewed. At present market situation, the industrial players of thin film technologies have to confront the great recession and need to change their market strategies and find technical alternatives again. Most recent technology trends and technical or industrial progress for Silicon thin film and CIGS are introduced and common interests for high efficiency and reliability are discussed.