CdTe Single-Crystal Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells

Joel Duenow; David Albin; Annamarie Duda; Clay DeHart; Wyatt Metzger; Darius Kuciauskas; Steven Johnston; Robert Reedy Jr.; James Burst

doi:10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925388

CdTe Single-Crystal Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells

Joel Duenow, David Albin, Annamarie Duda, Clay DeHart, Wyatt Metzger, Darius Kuciauskas, Steven Johnston, Robert Reedy Jr., James Burst

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

2 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Most recent gains in CdTe photovoltaic (PV) device efficiency have been in short-circuit current density (J_sc) and fill factor (FF), rather than open-circuit voltage (V_oc). Because J_sc is nearing its theoretical limit, further improvements in device efficiency will require increasing V_oc beyond 860 mV and increasing FF. V_oc and FF may be improved by increasing both the carrier concentration and minority-carrier lifetime of the CdTe. However, V_oc may be limited for other reasons, including Fermi-level pinning and surface recombination. In this study, we used doped CdTe single crystals to test whether higher carrier concentration and lifetime can overcome traditional V_oc barriers. In our work to date, we have fabricated heterojunction CdTe PV cells with V_oc up to 929 mV, FF of ∼60%, and efficiencies of 10%.

Original language	American English
Pages	2310-2313
Number of pages	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925388 https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925388
State	Published - 2014
Event	40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014 - Denver, United States Duration: 8 Jun 2014 → 13 Jun 2014

Conference

Conference	40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014
Country/Territory	United States
City	Denver
Period	8/06/14 → 13/06/14

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 IEEE.

NREL Publication Number

NREL/CP-5K00-61275

Keywords

cadmium compounds
current-voltage characteristics
heterojunctions
II-VI semiconductor materials
photovoltaic cells
solar energy

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Duenow, J., Albin, D., Duda, A., DeHart, C., Metzger, W., Kuciauskas, D., Johnston, S., Reedy Jr., R., & Burst, J. (2014). CdTe Single-Crystal Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells. 2310-2313. Paper presented at 40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014, Denver, United States. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925388, https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925388

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author = "Joel Duenow and David Albin and Annamarie Duda and Clay DeHart and Wyatt Metzger and Darius Kuciauskas and Steven Johnston and {Reedy Jr.}, Robert and James Burst",

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doi = "10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925388",

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Duenow, J, Albin, D, Duda, A, DeHart, C, Metzger, W, Kuciauskas, D , Johnston, S, Reedy Jr., R & Burst, J 2014, 'CdTe Single-Crystal Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells', Paper presented at 40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014, Denver, United States, 8/06/14 - 13/06/14 pp. 2310-2313. https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925388, https://doi.org/10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925388

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AU - Duenow, Joel

AU - Albin, David

AU - Duda, Annamarie

AU - DeHart, Clay

AU - Metzger, Wyatt

AU - Kuciauskas, Darius

AU - Johnston, Steven

AU - Reedy Jr., Robert

AU - Burst, James

PY - 2014

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AB - Most recent gains in CdTe photovoltaic (PV) device efficiency have been in short-circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor (FF), rather than open-circuit voltage (Voc). Because Jsc is nearing its theoretical limit, further improvements in device efficiency will require increasing Voc beyond 860 mV and increasing FF. Voc and FF may be improved by increasing both the carrier concentration and minority-carrier lifetime of the CdTe. However, Voc may be limited for other reasons, including Fermi-level pinning and surface recombination. In this study, we used doped CdTe single crystals to test whether higher carrier concentration and lifetime can overcome traditional Voc barriers. In our work to date, we have fabricated heterojunction CdTe PV cells with Voc up to 929 mV, FF of ∼60%, and efficiencies of 10%.

KW - cadmium compounds

KW - current-voltage characteristics

KW - heterojunctions

KW - II-VI semiconductor materials

KW - photovoltaic cells

KW - solar energy

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T2 - 40th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist Conference, PVSC 2014

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ER -

CdTe Single-Crystal Heterojunction Photovoltaic Cells

Abstract

Conference

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Keywords

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