Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T07:29:38.866Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cu Migration and its Impact on the Metastable Behavior of CdTe Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2015

Da Guo
Affiliation:
School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Richard Akis
Affiliation:
School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Daniel Brinkman
Affiliation:
School of Mathematical and Statistical Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Andrew Moore
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Tian Fang
Affiliation:
First Solar Inc, Perrysburg, Ohio 43551, USA
Igor Sankin
Affiliation:
First Solar Inc, Perrysburg, Ohio 43551, USA
Christian Ringhofer
Affiliation:
School of Mathematical and Statistical Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Dragica Vasileska
Affiliation:
School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Get access

Abstract

In this work, we report on development of one-dimensional reaction-diffusion simulator needed to understand the kinetics of Cu-related metastabilities observed in CdTe PV devices. Evolution of intrinsic and Cu-related defects in CdTe solar cells has been studied in time-space domain self-consistently with free carrier transport. Resulting device performance was simulated as a function of stress time, thus showing pronounced effect that the evolution of associated acceptor and donor states can cause on device characteristics. Although 1D simulation has intrinsic limitations when applied to poly-crystalline films, the results presented confirm the validity and the potential of the approach presented in better understanding of the performance and metastabilities of CdTe photovoltaic devices.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Green, M. A., Emery, K., Hishikawa, Y., Warta, W., and Dunlop, E. D., “Solar cell efficiency tables (Version 45),” Progress in photovoltaics: research and applications, vol. 23, pp. 19, 2015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corwine, C., Pudov, A., Gloeckler, M., Demtsu, S., and Sites, J., “Copper inclusion and migration from the back contact in CdTe solar cells,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, vol. 82, pp. 481489, 2004.Google Scholar
Perrenoud, J., Kranz, L., Gretener, C., Pianezzi, F., Nishiwaki, S., Buecheler, S., et al. ., “A comprehensive picture of Cu doping in CdTe solar cells,” Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 114, 2013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiltner, J. F. and Sites, J. R., “Stability of CdTe solar cells at elevated temperatures: bias, temperature, and Cu dependence,” in National center for photovoltaics (NCPV) 15th program review meeting, 1999, pp. 170175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teeter, G. and Asher, S., “Modeling Cu migration in CdTe solar cells under device-processing and long-term stability conditions,” in Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2008. PVSC'08. 33rd IEEE, 2008, pp. 16.Google Scholar
Pudov, A., Gloeckler, M., Demtsu, S., Sites, J., Barth, K., Enzenroth, R., et al. ., “Effect of back-contact copper concentration on CdTe cell operation,” in Proceedings of the 29th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2002, pp. 760763.Google Scholar
Demtsu, S., Albin, D., Sites, J., Metzger, W., and Duda, A., “Cu-related recombination in CdS/CdTe solar cells,” Thin Solid Films, vol. 516, pp. 22512254, 2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demtsu, S., “Impact of back-contact materials on performance and stability of CdS/CdTe solar cells,” Colorado State University, 2006.Google Scholar
Chou, H., Rohatgi, A., Thomas, E., Kamra, S., and Bhat, A., “Effects of Cu on CdTe/CdS heterojunction solar cells with Au/Cu contacts,” Journal of The Electrochemical Society, vol. 142, pp. 254259, 1995.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chou, H. C., Rohatgi, A., Jokerst, N. M., Thomas, E. W., and Kamra, S., “Copper migration in CdTe heterojunction solar cells,” Journal of Electronic Materials, vol. 25, pp. 10931098, Jul 1996.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ma, J., Wei, S.-H., Gessert, T. A., and Chin, K. K., “Carrier density and compensation in semiconductors with multiple dopants and multiple transition energy levels: Case of Cu impurities in CdTe,” Physical Review B, vol. 83, 2011.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wei, S.-H. and Zhang, S., “Chemical trends of defect formation and doping limit in II-VI semiconductors: The case of CdTe,” Physical Review B, vol. 66, 2002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, S., “Nonequilibrium point defects and diffusion in silicon,” Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports, vol. 13, pp. 105192, 1994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fahey, P. M., Griffin, P. B., and Plummer, J. D., “Point defects and dopant diffusion in silicon,” Reviews of Modern Physics, vol. 61, pp. 289384, 1989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gloeckler, M., Fahrenbruch, A., and Sites, J., “Numerical modeling of CIGS and CdTe solar cells: setting the baseline,” in Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 2003. Proceedings of 3rd World Conference on, 2003, pp. 491494.Google Scholar
Guo, D., Akis, R., Brinkman, D., Sankin, I., Fang, T., Vasileska, D., et al. ., “One-dimensional reaction-diffusion simulation of Cu migration in polycrystalline CdTe solar cells,” in Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2014 IEEE 40th, 2014, pp. 20112015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akis, R., Brinkman, D., Sankin, I., Fang, T., Guo, D., Vasileska, D., et al. ., “Extracting Cu diffusion parameters in polycrystalline CdTe,” in Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2014 IEEE 40th, 2014, pp. 32763281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar