| Work Detail |
Scientists in Bangladesh designed a cadmium telluride solar cell with top/top and back contact materials of aluminum (Al) and nickel (Ni). The device reportedly showed a quantum efficiency of around 100% at visible wavelengths. Scientists at the Islamic University of Bangladesh have designed a cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cell that can supposedly achieve a high level of photon absorption. To simulate and model solar cell performance, the researchers used SCAPS-1D solar cell capacitance software, a thin film solar cell simulation tool developed by Ghent University, Belgium. The solar cell design consists of a window layer of zinc oxide (ZnO) and transparent conductive oxide (TCO), a buffer layer of cadmium sulfide (CdS), a CdTe absorber, a reflected hole transport layer (ER-HTL) based on cuprous oxide (Cu2O) and top/top and back contact materials of aluminum (Al) and nickel (Ni). In the proposed cell configuration, both the top/top AI contact and the back Ni contact provide a low resistance electrical connection and the ZnO window layer, which reduces light reflection, serves as the TCO layer, thus increasing the efficiency of the cell. The subsequent metallic contacts act as electrodes responsible for collecting and transferring the electrons generated by the absorbing layer to the external circuit. “To achieve the best performance, it is recommended to set the densities of both the acceptor and the donor for the absorbent and buffer layers at 10 cm3,” the scientists emphasize. “These densities can be achieved with a window and buffer layer thickness of 100 nm and an absorbing layer thickness of 2500 nm.” Simulated under standard lighting conditions, the PV device achieved a power conversion efficiency of 31.82%, an open circuit voltage of 1.4811 V, a short circuit current of 28.682434 mA/cm2, and a fill factor of 74.91%. “This level of photovoltaic efficiency far exceeds that of other research reports,” the group stated. “In addition, the proposed structure exhibits a high level of photon absorption, with almost 100% quantum efficiency at visible wavelengths.” The solar cell design was presented in the study “ Effect of various layers on improving the photovoltaic efficiency of Al/ZnO/CdS/CdTe/Cu2O/Ni solar cells ” Al/ZnO/CdS/CdTe/Cu2O/Ni solar cells), published in the Journal of Alloys and Metallurgical Systems . |
