Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 110334 |
| Journal | Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells |
| Volume | 207 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| ISSN | 0927-0248 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
Keywords
- Tandem
- Photovoltaric
- Silicon
- TOPCon
- CZTS
- Titanium nitride
Cite this
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Monolithic thin-film chalcogenide–silicon tandem solar cells enabled by a diffusion barrier. / Hajijafarassar, Alireza; Martinho, Filipe Mesquita Alves; Stulen, Fredrik; Grini, Sigbjørn; Mariño, Simón López; Espindola Rodriguez, Moises; Döbeli, Max; Canulescu, Stela; Stamate, Eugen; Gansukh, Mungunshagai; Engberg, Sara Lena Josefin; Crovetto, Andrea; Vines, Lasse; Schou, Jørgen; Hansen, Ole.
In: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 207, 110334, 2020.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Monolithic thin-film chalcogenide–silicon tandem solar cells enabled by a diffusion barrier
AU - Hajijafarassar, Alireza
AU - Martinho, Filipe Mesquita Alves
AU - Stulen, Fredrik
AU - Grini, Sigbjørn
AU - Mariño, Simón López
AU - Espindola Rodriguez, Moises
AU - Döbeli, Max
AU - Canulescu, Stela
AU - Stamate, Eugen
AU - Gansukh, Mungunshagai
AU - Engberg, Sara Lena Josefin
AU - Crovetto, Andrea
AU - Vines, Lasse
AU - Schou, Jørgen
AU - Hansen, Ole
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Following the recent success of monolithically integrated Perovskite/Si tandem solar cells, great interest has been raised in searching for alternative wide bandgap top-cell materials with prospects of a fully earth-abundant, stable and efficient tandem solar cell. Thin film chalcogenides (TFCs) such as the Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) could be suitable top-cell materials. However, TFCs have the disadvantage that generally at least one high temperature step (>500 °C) is needed during the synthesis, which could contaminate the Si bottom cell. Here, we systematically investigate the monolithic integration of CZTS on a Si bottom solar cell. A thermally resilient double-sided Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) structure is used as bottom cell. A thin (<25 nm) TiN layer between the top and bottom cells, doubles as diffusion barrier and recombination layer. We show that TiN successfully mitigates in-diffusion of CZTS elements into the c-Si bulk during the high temperature sulfurization process, and find no evidence of electrically active deep Si bulk defects in samples protected by just 10 nm TiN. Post-process minority carrier lifetime in Si exceeded 1.5 ms, i.e., a promising implied open-circuit voltage (i-Voc) of 715 mV after the high temperature sulfurization. Based on these results, we demonstrate a first proof-of-concept two-terminal CZTS/Si tandem device with an efficiency of 1.1% and a Voc of 900 mV. A general implication of this study is that the growth of complex semiconductors on Si using high temperature steps is technically feasible, and can potentially lead to efficient monolithically integrated two-terminal tandem solar cells.
AB - Following the recent success of monolithically integrated Perovskite/Si tandem solar cells, great interest has been raised in searching for alternative wide bandgap top-cell materials with prospects of a fully earth-abundant, stable and efficient tandem solar cell. Thin film chalcogenides (TFCs) such as the Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) could be suitable top-cell materials. However, TFCs have the disadvantage that generally at least one high temperature step (>500 °C) is needed during the synthesis, which could contaminate the Si bottom cell. Here, we systematically investigate the monolithic integration of CZTS on a Si bottom solar cell. A thermally resilient double-sided Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) structure is used as bottom cell. A thin (<25 nm) TiN layer between the top and bottom cells, doubles as diffusion barrier and recombination layer. We show that TiN successfully mitigates in-diffusion of CZTS elements into the c-Si bulk during the high temperature sulfurization process, and find no evidence of electrically active deep Si bulk defects in samples protected by just 10 nm TiN. Post-process minority carrier lifetime in Si exceeded 1.5 ms, i.e., a promising implied open-circuit voltage (i-Voc) of 715 mV after the high temperature sulfurization. Based on these results, we demonstrate a first proof-of-concept two-terminal CZTS/Si tandem device with an efficiency of 1.1% and a Voc of 900 mV. A general implication of this study is that the growth of complex semiconductors on Si using high temperature steps is technically feasible, and can potentially lead to efficient monolithically integrated two-terminal tandem solar cells.
KW - Tandem
KW - Photovoltaric
KW - Silicon
KW - TOPCon
KW - CZTS
KW - Titanium nitride
U2 - 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110334
DO - 10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110334
M3 - Journal article
VL - 207
JO - Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells
JF - Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells
SN - 0927-0248
M1 - 110334
ER -