Numerical modeling of CdTe solar cells thin film investigation by using PC1D model
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of individual layers of cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cell to improve the efficiency of the photovoltaic cell.
Design/methodology/approach
To improve the performances of CdTe thin-film solar cells, the thickness of CdTe and cadmium sulfide (CdS) have been modified separately. High-efficiency ultra-thin CdTe solar cell with ZnTe layer as back surface field (BSF) was achieved. The CdTe solar cell is under AM1.5 g illumination using a one-dimensional (1-D) model, i.e. personal computer one dimensional (PC1D).
Findings
The highest conversion efficiency of about 15.3 per cent was achieved for ultrathin CdTe solar cell with a ZnTe BSF layer. The results of simulation were compared with experimental and analytical results by other researchers.
Originality/value
In this paper, according to the authors’ knowledge ZnO:Al/CdS/CdTe/ZnTe is simulated by PC1D model for the first time and is compared with experimental result (ZnO:Al/CdS/CdTe). The results show a suitable performance.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors specifically acknowledge Prof M. Lharch and Prof M. EL Hasnaoui both based at the Physics Department of the Ibn Tofail University (Morocco) for their insightful suggestions and valuable comments.
Authors declare any potential conflict of interest in the research.
Code availability. PC1D model is freely available under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (www2.pvlighthouse.com.au/resources/PC1D/help/pc1d_help_index.aspx).
Citation
Haddout, A., Raidou, A. and Fahoume, M. (2018), "Numerical modeling of CdTe solar cells thin film investigation by using PC1D model", World Journal of Engineering, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 549-555. https://doi.org/10.1108/WJE-08-2017-0215
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited