CZTSSe thin film : growth, characterization and solar cell applications

Download

index.pdf

Date

2019

Author

Terlemezoğlu, Makbule

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

286
views

211
downloads

Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) compound is one of the most promising absorber materials for thin film solar cell technology due to the abundance and non-toxicity of its constituents. Besides, CZTSSe has an ideal direct band gap value in the range of 1-1.5 eV and high absorption coefficient (> 104 cm-1) in the visible region, which satisfies the conversion of the maximum amount of energy of the solar spectrum. For this, CZTSSe absorber layer with only a few microns of thickness is sufficient to absorb all the photons having the energy greater than its band gap. Another advantage is that its crystal structure is very similar to chalcopyrites. For this reason, CZTSSe thin film based solar cells are fabricated in a similar manner to chalcopyrite based solar cells. This study focused on the growth, characterization, and photovoltaic applications of CZTSSe thin films. In this context, firstly, CZTSSe thin films were grown by using thermal evaporation method on both glass and silicon (Si) substrates. During the deposition process, sintered crystalline powder of CZTSSe was used as the evaporation source to obtain CZTSSe thin films in an efficient and cost-effective way. Post annealing process was applied to increase the homogeneity of the deposited thin films. Subsequently, the characterization of annealed films was carried out. Then, the electrical properties of the CZTSSe/Si structure were investigated using temperature-dependent current-voltage (I-V) and frequency dependent capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements for possible future applications in various technologies. Also, in this study, CZTSSe thin films having a surface decorated with self-assembled nanoflakes were fabricated by utilizing the RF magnetron sputtering method. It was observed that the self-assembled nanostructures on the surface of the film yield low surface reflectance. The formation of nanoflakes was investigated. It was observed that the size of nanoflakes can be adjusted by an accurate control of the sputtering process, including film thickness. Moreover, the effect of substrate temperature on the formation of nanoflakes at the film surface was discussed at a fixed deposition route. In the last part of the thesis, CZTSSe thin film based solar cells were fabricated in superstrate configuration. For this purpose, the performance of glass/ITO/CdS/CZTSSe/metal structure was investigated. Then, the effect of titanium dioxide layer (TiO2) on the device performance was examined due to its being a hole blocking and wide band gap material properties. As a result, the considerable positive effect of TiO2 layer on the open circuit voltage was observed.

Subject Keywords

Solar cells, Solar cells Materials., CZTSSe, Thin Film, Solar Cell, Self-assembled Nanostructures.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12623748/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/45085

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Deposition of Cu-Zn-Sn-Se (cztse) thin films and investigation of their device properties Bayraklı, Özge; Parlak, Mehmet; Department of Physics (2018) Thin Film Solar Cell has received a considerable attention in the photovoltaic industry. While the efficiency of thin film amorphous silicon is about %14, the efficiency of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin film based solar cells which are very popular in recent years, reached the value of %20. But CIGS based solar cells have some constraints such as their extensive and large scale production in terms of availability of its constituent elements. On the other hand, Kesterite based solar cells such as Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTS...
Fabrication and characterization of PEDOT:PSS hole transport layers for silicon solar cells Türkay, Deniz; Yerci, Selçuk; Department of Micro and Nanotechnology (2019) Heterojunction silicon solar cells have gained considerable interest in recent years with the demonstration of record-high device performances. However, these devices are typically based on inorganic layers fabricated at high temperatures under vacuum environment, using toxic precursors. The low temperature budget, non-toxic chemical contents, and wide range of adjustability in physical and electrical properties make poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) a promising candidate a...
PASSIVATION OF SILICON SOLAR CELLS VIA LOW TEMPERATURE WET CHEMICAL OXIDATION KÖKBUDAK, GAMZE; Çiftpınar, Emine Hande; DEMİRCİOĞLU, OLGU; Turan, Raşit (2016-12-01) In the development of high efficiency crystalline Si solar cells, decreasing bulk and surface recombination velocities of the minority carriers is vital. As the bulk recombination could be suppressed by enhancing the material quality, the effect of surface recombination on cell performance becomes more dominant. Also, recent studies have revealed that the area under the metal contacted region needs to be passivated to minimize the carrier recombination. The passivation of front and back surface of the cell ...
Numerical investigation of a stand alone solar hydrogen energy system effects of PEFC degradation Ender, Ozden; Tarı, İlker (null; 2015-08-12) An existing stand-alone solar energy system producing hydrogen for energy storage is numerically investigated focusing on the degradation of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC) and its effects on the overall performance of the system. The system consists of Photovoltaic (PV) panels, polymer electrolyte based electrolyzers, H2 and O2 storage tanks and a commercial PEFC stack. A PEFC is numerically investigated both as new and as degraded (for about two years). Using a variety of observed degradation pattern...
A numerical analysis of interdigitated back contacted silicon solar cells Acar, Beran; Yerci, Selçuk; Turan, Raşit; Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (2018) The state-of-the-art solar cells manufactured using crystalline silicon (c-Si) are highly cost-effective, competing with fossil fuel-based energy sources. However, relatively more complex cell structures (i.e. interdigitated back contact, IBC) need to be developed to further increase the efficiency/cost ratio. In this thesis, the effects of structural parameters such as cell dimensions, metal contact geometry and contact resistances on the efficiency of IBC and bifacial IBC silicon solar cells were studied ...

Citation Formats

M. Terlemezoğlu, “CZTSSe thin film : growth, characterization and solar cell applications ,” Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences. Physics., Middle East Technical University, 2019.