Patent Application
20190237607
This application claims the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201810083952.2 filed on Jan. 29, 2018, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The present disclosure relates to the field of solar cell technology, and in particular relates to a thin-film solar cell.
With the rapid development of industry, energy and environmental problems have become more serious than ever, and the use of solar energy has become a research hotspot around the world. In the field of solar cell technology, copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) is a direct band gap semiconductor. With the incorporation of Ga element, the band gap width of CIGS can be adjusted between 1.02 eV and 1.68 eV. CIGS exhibits a high absorption coefficient towards visible light and is the most promising material for producing high-efficiency low-cost thin-film solar cells.
The glass substrate of CIGS cell contains an alkaline element. An alkaline compound layer is vapor-deposited between the CIGS layer (absorption layer) and the Mo layer to adjust the alkaline element of the absorption layer. However, in the co-evaporation preparation of an absorption layer, if the processing temperature exceeds 500 degrees, the alkaline element diffuses from a high concentration region to a low concentration region of the absorption layer. After the preparation of the absorption layer is completed and before the absorption layer goes through the next processing, the temperature of the substrate decreases, thus the alkaline element diffuses back to the bottom of the CIGS layer, resulting in uncontrolled alkaline element on the surface of the CIGS layer, thereby making the alkaline element uncontrollable throughout the process. This reduces the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the CIGS cell.
The present disclosure has been accomplished to at least partially solve the technical problem in the prior art. The present disclosure provides a thin-film solar cell capable of enhancing controllability of alkaline element on the surface of the CIGS layer and improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the cells.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a thin-film solar cell, comprising:
a substrate;
a first conductive layer disposed on the substrate;
a first alkaline element layer disposed on the first conductive layer;
a light absorption layer disposed on the alkaline element layer;
a second alkaline element layer disposed on the light absorption layer; and
a transparent conductive layer disposed on the second alkaline element layer.
In the thin-film solar cell, a buffer layer may further be disposed between the second alkaline element layer and the transparent conductive layer.
In the thin-film solar cell, the first conductive layer may be a molybdenum layer.
In the thin-film solar cell, the molybdenum layer may have a thickness of about 200 to 500 nm and a square resistance of about 500 to 1000 mΩ.
In the thin-film solar cell, the light absorption layer may be a CIGS absorption layer, which may have a thickness of about 1.8 to 2.5 μm.
In the thin-film solar cell, the atomic ratio of the constituent elements of the CIGS absorption layer may satisfy: 0.75≤Cu/(In+Ga)≤1, 0.2≤Ga/(In+Ga)≤0.5.
In the thin-film solar cell, the buffer layer may be a cadmium sulfide layer, which may have a thickness of about 20 to 70 nm.
In the thin-film solar cell, the composition of the transparent conductive layer may be aluminum-doped zinc oxide.
In the thin-film solar cell, the transparent conductive layer may have a thickness of about 800 to 1200 nm and a square resistance of about 5 to 30Ω.
In the thin-film solar cell, the first alkaline element layer may be one of NaF, KF, RbF, and CsF.
In the thin-film solar cell, the second alkaline element layer may be one of NaF, KF, RbF, and CsF.
According to the thin-film solar cell of the present disclosure, by providing the second alkaline element layer, an alkali metal element in the second alkaline element layer reacts with elements in the light absorption layer to form a film layer containing the alkali metal element, thereby changing the composition of the surface of the light absorption layer, and further changing the electronic structure of the light absorption layer by ion exchange, reducing the surface recombination of charge carriers between the layers, such that an open-circuit voltage of the cell is increased in the post-preparation processing, thereby improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the cell.
The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative and are used to explain the present disclosure only, which may not be interpreted as limitations to the present disclosure.
As shown in
By vapor-depositing the first alkaline element layer 300 between the light absorption layer 400 and the molybdenum layer (first conductive layer) 200, the content of alkaline element in the cell structure can be initially controlled, but in the co-evaporation preparation of the light absorption layer 400, if the processing temperature exceeds 500° C., the alkaline element diffuses from a high concentration region to a low concentration region of the light absorption layer 400. After the preparation of the light absorption layer 400 is completed and before the absorption layer goes through the next processing, the temperature of the substrate 100 decreases, and alkaline element diffuses back to the bottom of the light absorption layer 400, resulting it difficult to ensure control precision over the alkaline element on the surface of the light absorption layer 400. Therefore, in the present embodiment, a second alkaline element layer 500 is disposed between the light absorption layer 400 and the buffer layer 600, and by utilizing the characteristic of strong diffusibility of alkaline element, the alkaline element in the second alkaline element 500 can react with elements in the light absorption layer 400, so as to form a film layer containing alkaline element on the surface of the light absorption layer 400, thereby changing the composition of the surface of the light absorption layer 400, and further changing the electronic structure of the light absorption layer 400 by ion exchange, reducing the surface recombination of charge carriers between the layers, so that the open-circuit voltage of the cell is increased in the post-preparation processing, thereby improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the cell.
In an exemplary embodiment, in order to ensure the diffusion performance of the alkaline element in the first alkaline element layer 300 in the light absorption layer 400 while facilitating the reaction of the alkaline element with elements in the light absorption layer 400, the first alkaline element layer 300 may be one of NaF, KF, RbF, and CsF. In an exemplary embodiment, the second alkaline element layer 500 may also be one of NaF, KF, RbF, and CsF.
In an exemplary embodiment, the light absorption layer 400 may be a CIGS absorption layer, which may have a thickness of about 1.8 to 2.5 μm. After the second alkaline element layer 500 reacts with the CIGS absorption layer, a layer of XIGS film will be formed on the surface of the CIGS absorption layer, wherein X represents an alkali metal element in the second alkaline element layer 500, such as Na, K, Rb or Cs, etc.
In an exemplary embodiment, the atomic ratio of the constituent elements of the CIGS absorption layer satisfies: 0.75≤Cu/(In+Ga)≤1, 0.2≤Ga/(In+Ga)≤0.5. Under this ratio range, interface recombination can be effectively reduced, the band gap width can be adjusted and optimized, the open-circuit voltage can be increased, and the cell efficiency can be increased.
In an exemplary embodiment, in order to enhance the power generating performance of the thin-film solar cell, the molybdenum layer 200 may have a thickness of about 200 to 500 nm and a square resistance of about 500 to 1000 mΩ.
The buffer layer 600 can be disposed by making cadmium sulfide with chemical bath deposition. The cadmium sulfide layer may have a thickness of about 20 to 70 nm to ensure the interface reaction between the light absorption layer 400 and the transparent conductive layer 700 and increase the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the cell.
In an exemplary embodiment, in order to enhance the light transmittance, the composition of the transparent conductive layer 700 may be aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al). In an exemplary embodiment, the aluminum element may also be replaced with a Group 3 element. Meanwhile, in order to enhance the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the cell, the transparent conductive layer 700 may have a thickness of about 800 to 1200 nm and a square resistance of about 5 to 30Ω.
According to the thin-film solar cell of the present disclosure, by disposing the second alkaline element layer, the alkali metal element in the second alkaline element layer reacts with elements in the light absorption layer to form a film layer containing the alkali metal element, thereby changing the composition of the surface of the light absorption layer, and further changing the electronic structure of the light absorption layer by ion exchange, reducing the surface recombination of charge carriers between the layers, such that the open-circuit voltage of the cell is increased in the post-preparation processing, thereby improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the cell.
The construction, features, and effects of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. What described above are only preferred embodiments of the present disclosure. However, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and any changes or replacements that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present disclosure shall fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure shall be defined by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201810083952.2 | Jan 2018 | CN | national |
