An international research team led by the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission has developed a new design for thin-film solar cells based on antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3)
This kind of cell typology has, so far, been far from reaching commercial production due to the low crystallinity and high resistivity of the Sb2S3 film, which affects efficiency. However Sb2S3 has a good bandgap, ranging from 1.70 to 1.90 eV, and a remarkable light absorption coefficient, and remains a promising material for future PV cell applications.
With this in mind, the researchers investigated transport mechanisms, resistance, and defects in Sb2S3 cells. “The novelty of this work lies in its detailed theoretical examination of Sb2S3 solar cells, specifically focusing on the intricate interplay of various transport mechanisms such as tunneling-enhanced recombination, Sb2S3/CdS interface recombination, and non-radiative recombination,” they explained.
To address these barriers, the research group adopted a modeling framework to analyze transport mechanisms and their interactions. “The primary thrust of this study is a meticulous determination of the dominant recombination mechanism,” it stated, noting that other factors impacting a Sb2S3 cell efficiency are doping of the cadmium sulfide (CdS) layer, thickness, bandgap, and affinity.
The scientists also investigated the effects of shunt resistance (Rsh) and series resistance (Rs) on cell performance, as well as the impact of interfacial defects at the CdS/Sb2S3 interface.
The proposed modeling was applied to a conventional Sb2S3 cell structure integrating a glass-coated indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate, a CdS layer, an Sb2S3 absorber, and a gold (Au) metal contact. This analysis showed that increasing CdS doping and thickness enhances generation and separation mechanisms by boosting the electric field and absorption rate.
“The optimized solar cell configuration demonstrates significant improvements with a high short-circuit current density of 9.5 mA cm−2, an open-circuit voltage of 1.16 V, a fill factor of 54.7%, and a remarkable 30% increase in conversion efficiency compared to conventional solar cells,” the scientists said, adding that the proposed cell design may achieve an efficiency 11.68%, which would compare to 6.5% for a non-optimized device.
“The simulated work not only sheds light on the current limitations and possibilities but also lays the foundation for future research directions,” the team concluded.
The new cell architecture was introduced in the study “Scrutinizing transport phenomena and recombination mechanisms in thin film Sb2S3 solar cells,” published in scientific reports. The research team comprises scientists from Algeria's Laboratory HNS-RE2SD, the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro in Mexico, India's Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences and Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, as well as from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia and Yeungnam University in South Korea.
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