Efficiency enhancement of ultrathin CIGS solar cells by optimal bandgap grading. Part III: piecewise-homogeneous grading

Faiz Ahmad; Faiz Ahmad; Peter B. Monk; Akhlesh Lakhtakia

doi:10.1364/AO.516850

Applied Optics
Vol. 63,
Issue 11,
pp. 2831-2836
(2024)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.516850

Efficiency enhancement of ultrathin CIGS solar cells by optimal bandgap grading. Part III: piecewise-homogeneous grading

Faiz Ahmad, Peter B. Monk, and Akhlesh Lakhtakia

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Faiz Ahmad, Peter B. Monk, and Akhlesh Lakhtakia, "Efficiency enhancement of ultrathin CIGS solar cells by optimal bandgap grading. Part III: piecewise-homogeneous grading," Appl. Opt. 63, 2831-2836 (2024)

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Abstract

In Parts I [Appl. Opt. 58, 6067 (2019) [CrossRef] ] and II [Appl. Opt. 61, 10049 (2022) [CrossRef] ], we used a coupled optoelectronic model to optimize a thin-film CIGS solar cell with a graded-bandgap photon-absorbing layer, periodically corrugated backreflector, and multilayered antireflection coatings. Bandgap grading of the CIGS photon-absorbing layer was continuous and either linear or nonlinear, in the thickness direction. Periodic corrugation and multilayered antireflection coatings were found to engender slight improvements in the efficiency. In contrast, bandgap grading of the CIGS photon-absorbing layer leads to significant enhancement of efficiency, especially when the grading is continuous and nonlinear. However, practical implementation of continuous nonlinear grading is challenging compared to piecewise-homogeneous grading. Hence, for this study, we investigated piecewise-homogeneous approximations of the optimal linear and nonlinear grading profiles, and found that an equivalent efficiency is achieved using piecewise-homogeneous grading. An efficiency of 30.15% is predicted with a three-layered piecewise-homogeneous CIGS photon-absorbing layer. The results will help experimentalists to implement optimal designs for highly efficient CIGS thin-film solar cells.

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Data underlying the results presented in this paper are not publicly available at this time but may be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Grading Type	$E_{g, min}$ (eV)	$A$	$α$	$K$	$ψ$	$J_{S C}$ ( ${m A c m}^{- 2}$ )	$V_{o c}$ (mV)	$F F$ (%)	$η$ (%)
Linear	0.95	0.98	-	-	-	36.38	810	82	24.17
Nonlinear	1.07	1.0	8	0.60	0.36	38.02	980	80	29.98

$n_{s u b}$	$E_{g_{1}} / L_{1}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{2}} / L_{2}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{3}} / L_{3}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{4}} / L_{4}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{5}} / L_{5}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{6}} / L_{6}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{7}} / L_{7}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{8}} / L_{8}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{9}} / L_{9}$ (eV)/(nm)	$J_{S C}$ (mA ${c m}^{- 2}$ )	$V_{o c}$ (mV)	$F F$ (%)	$η$ (%)	Relative Change in $η$ (%)
1	1.29/2200	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27.87	770	81	17.46
3	1.07/733.33	1.29/733.33	1.51/733.33	-	-	-	-	-	-	35.87	790	85	24.07	37.85
5	1.026/440	1.158/440	1.29/440	1.422/440	1.544/440	-	-	-	-	36.19	810	83	24.32	39.29
7	1.007/314.28	1.1014/314.28	1.196/314.28	1.29/314.28	1.384/314.28	1.479/314.28	1.5729/314.28	-	-	36.26	810	80	23.49	34.54
9	0.9966/244.44	1.07/244.44	1.1433/244.44	1.2166/244.44	1.29/244.44	1.363/244.44	1.4366/244.44	1.51/244.44	1.583/244.44	36.32	820	83	24.63	41.06

$n_{s u b}$	$E_{g_{1}} / L_{1}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{2}} / L_{2}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{3}} / L_{3}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{4}} / L_{4}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{5}} / L_{5}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{6}} / L_{6}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{7}} / L_{7}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{8}} / L_{8}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{9}} / L_{9}$ (eV)/(nm)	$J_{S C}$ (mA ${c m}^{- 2}$ )	$V_{o c}$ (mV)	$F F$ (%)	$η$ (%)	Relative Change in $η$ (%)
1	1.15/2200	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	32.99	660	83	18.02
3	1.07/1500	1.151/350	1.496/350	-	-	-	-	-	-	38.03	930	79.5	28.11	55.99
5	1.07/1500	1.111/175	1.213/175	1.397/175	1.577/175	-	-	-	-	38.04	880	75	25.23	40.01
7	1.07/1500	1.101/116.66	1.151/116.66	1.239/116.66	1.363/116.66	1.498/116.66	1.597/116.66	-	-	38.03	870	78	25.70	42.62
9	1.07/1500	1.098/87.5	1.128/87.5	1.18/87.5	1.252/87.5	1.3634/87.5	1.449/87.5	1.5425/87.5	1.605/87.5	38.03	880	78	26.07	44.67

Grading Type	$E_{g, min}$ (eV)	$A$	$α$	$K$	$ψ$	$J_{S C}$ ( ${m A c m}^{- 2}$ )	$V_{o c}$ (mV)	$F F$ (%)	$η$ (%)
Linear	0.95	0.98	-	-	-	36.38	810	82	24.17
Nonlinear	1.07	1.0	8	0.60	0.36	38.02	980	80	29.98

$n_{s u b}$	$E_{g_{1}} / L_{1}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{2}} / L_{2}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{3}} / L_{3}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{4}} / L_{4}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{5}} / L_{5}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{6}} / L_{6}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{7}} / L_{7}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{8}} / L_{8}$ (eV)/(nm)	$E_{g_{9}} / L_{9}$ (eV)/(nm)	$J_{S C}$ (mA ${c m}^{- 2}$ )	$V_{o c}$ (mV)	$F F$ (%)	$η$ (%)	Relative Change in $η$ (%)
1	1.29/2200	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27.87	770	81	17.46
3	1.07/733.33	1.29/733.33	1.51/733.33	-	-	-	-	-	-	35.87	790	85	24.07	37.85
5	1.026/440	1.158/440	1.29/440	1.422/440	1.544/440	-	-	-	-	36.19	810	83	24.32	39.29
7	1.007/314.28	1.1014/314.28	1.196/314.28	1.29/314.28	1.384/314.28	1.479/314.28	1.5729/314.28	-	-	36.26	810	80	23.49	34.54
9	0.9966/244.44	1.07/244.44	1.1433/244.44	1.2166/244.44	1.29/244.44	1.363/244.44	1.4366/244.44	1.51/244.44	1.583/244.44	36.32	820	83	24.63	41.06

Abstract

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Applied Optics