| AVS 62nd International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Energy Frontiers Focus Topic | Monday Sessions |
| Session EN+AS+EM+NS+SE+SS+TF-MoM |
| Session: | Solar Cells I |
| Presenter: | Deidra Hodges, University of Texas at El Paso |
| Authors: | D. Kava, University of Texas at El Paso J. Galindo, University of Texas at El Paso C.O. Sana, University of Texas at El Paso S. Shahriar, University of Texas at El Paso D.R. Hodges, University of Texas at El Paso |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Photovoltaic’s contribution to energy production continues to grow as costs continue to decrease. As silicon cells approach their limits, other materials are emerging. The development of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film solar cells using non-vacuum liquid-based spin coating techniques have been previously investigated. The focus of this paper is the optimization of p-type CZTS thin film solar cells onto flexible substrates. Flexible solar panel costs are higher than their traditional counterparts. CZTS currently reports only a 3.2% efficiency on flexible glass, while the record for CZTS on non-flexible substrates is 12.6%. The cells are created using a single solution ink sol–gel method. All metals are dissolved in a single step prior to deposition onto substrates (nickel foil and corning willow glass) as a thin film. Corning Willow glass is a new material introduced recently to the market, while nickel is a inexpensive flexible reflective foil. The Corning Willow glass is coated with a molybdenum layer as a reflective back contact layer. By using a single step and a solution deposition method, lower production cost are achievable. For thin film deposition, we used a non-vacuum spin coater (WS650 spin processor, Laurell Technologies) with an optimized spin coat programming. Annealing took place under vacuum in a RTP furnace while time, temperature and ramp functions were varied. The other layers of the device consists of cadmium sulfide n-type window layer and a zinc oxide doped with aluminum transparent top contact layer. Characterization and analysis of the thin films were performed using Raman spectroscopy, scanning election microscope (Zeiss NEON 40), X-ray diffraction (Philipps X’Pert), proflimeter (Veeco Dektak 150), UV-Vis-NIR Spectrophotometer (Carry 5000), Hall Effect measurement system (HMS3000) and 4 point probe (Lucas Labs) measurements. Results show CZTS thin film solar cells on flexible glass is obtainable.