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Applied Sciences
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CIGS Thin Films and Solar Cells
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CIGS Thin Films and Solar Cells

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2018) | Viewed by 11193

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Edmondo Gilioli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IMEM-CNR, (Institute of Materials for Electronic and Magnetism – National Research Council), Parco Area delle Scienze 37/A, 43124 Parma, Italy
Interests: CIGS-based solar cells; thin film deposition; high pressure synthesis (HP/HT)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Stefano Rampino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CNR-IMEM, Parco Area delle Scienze 37A, I-43124 Parma, Italy
Interests: thin film deposition; photovoltaic energy; structural; optical and electrical characterizations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the past few years, thin film solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) have achieved remarkable progress in terms of conversion efficiencies (>22%) and production capacity, exceeding 1 GW/year. However, the field faces continuous evolution and further improvements are awaited, both in fundamental studies and in applications.

In addition, the opto-electronic properties of CIGS, such as high photon absorbance and a tuneable composition, make them attractive for a range of novel structures (bifacial, flexible, semi-transparent, tandem cells) to increase light harvesting and for use in the emerging field of BIPV (building integrated) or PIPV (product integrated).

This Special Issue of Applied Sciences, “CIGS Thin Films and Solar Cells”, is intended for a wide and interdisciplinary audience, and covers recent advances in:

- innovative concepts to increase CIGS-based device performance and to reduce costs

- development of new deposition techniques and processing

- alternative CIGS solar cell architectures

- improved characterization methods and theoretical modelling

- optimization of the CIGS modules and updated market analysis.

Dr. Edmondo Gilioli
Dr. Stefano Rampino
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

• CIGS-based solar cells
• Processes for CIGS film synthesis/deposition
• Material characterization methods
• Passivation of interfaces and surfaces
• Electrical characterization methods, device analysis
• New concepts for cell architecture
• Building integrated photovoltaics CIGS cells
• Flexible and ultra-light substrates
• Bifacial and semi-trasparent cells

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 5332 KiB  
Article
Effects of Bottom Layer Sputtering Pressures and Annealing Temperatures on the Microstructures, Electrical and Optical Properties of Mo Bilayer Films Deposited by RF/DC Magnetron Sputtering
by Haili Zhao, Jingpei Xie and Aixia Mao
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(7), 1395; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9071395 - 03 Apr 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2532
Abstract
Most of the molybdenum (Mo) bilayer films are deposited by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering at the bottom and the top layer (DC/DC). However, the deposition of Mo bilayer film by radio frequency (RF) Mo bottom layer and DC Mo top layer magnetron [...] Read more.
Most of the molybdenum (Mo) bilayer films are deposited by direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering at the bottom and the top layer (DC/DC). However, the deposition of Mo bilayer film by radio frequency (RF) Mo bottom layer and DC Mo top layer magnetron sputtering has been less studied by researchers. In this paper, the bottom layer of Mo bilayer film was deposited by RF magnetron sputtering to maintain its good adhesion and high reflectance, and the top layer was deposited by DC magnetron sputtering to obtain good conductivity (RF/DC). Generally, the bottom layer sputtering pressure is relatively random, in this paper, the effects of the bottom layer RF sputtering pressures on the microstructures and properties of Mo bilayer films were first studied in detail. Next, in order to further improve their properties, the as-prepared Mo bilayer films at 0.4 Pa bottom layer RF sputtering pressure were annealed at different temperatures and then investigated. Specifically, Mo bilayer films were deposited on soda-lime glass substrates by RF/DC magnetron sputtering at different bottom layer RF sputtering pressures in the range of 0.4–1.2 Pa, the powers of bottom layer RF sputtering and top layer DC sputtering were 120 W and 100 W, respectively. Then, Mo bilayer films, prepared at a bottom layer sputtering pressure of 0.4 Pa and top layer sputtering pressure of 0.3 Pa, were annealed for 30 min at various temperatures in the range of 100–400 °C. The effects of bottom layer sputtering pressures and the annealing temperatures on the microstructures, electrical and optical properties of Mo bilayer films were clarified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), atomic-force microscopy (AFM), and ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectra, respectively. It is shown that with decreasing bottom layer sputtering pressure from 1.2 to 0.4 Pa and increasing annealing temperature from 100 to 400 °C, the crystallinity, electrical and optical properties of Mo bilayer films were improved correspondingly. The optimized Mo bilayer film was prepared at the top layer sputtering pressure of 0.3 Pa, the bottom layer sputtering pressure of 0.4 Pa and the annealing temperature of 400 °C. The extremely low resistivity of 0.92 × 10−5 Ω.cm was obtained. The photo-conversion efficiency of copper indium gallium selenium (CIGS) solar cell with the optimized Mo bilayer film as electrode was up to as high as 13.5%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CIGS Thin Films and Solar Cells)
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15 pages, 2995 KiB  
Article
Low-Cost CuIn1−xGaxSe2 Ultra-Thin Hole-Transporting Material Layer for Perovskite/CIGSe Heterojunction Solar Cells
by Liann-Be Chang, Chzu-Chiang Tseng, Gwomei Wu, Wu-Shiung Feng, Ming-Jer Jeng, Lung-Chien Chen, Kuan-Lin Lee, Ewa Popko, Lucjan Jacak and Katarzyna Gwozdz
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 719; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040719 - 19 Feb 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3534
Abstract
This paper presents a new type of solar cellwith enhanced optical-current characteristics using an ultra-thin CuIn1−xGaxSe2 hole-transporting material (HTM) layer (<400 nm). The HTM layer was between a bi-layer Mo metal-electrode and a CH3NH3PbI [...] Read more.
This paper presents a new type of solar cellwith enhanced optical-current characteristics using an ultra-thin CuIn1−xGaxSe2 hole-transporting material (HTM) layer (<400 nm). The HTM layer was between a bi-layer Mo metal-electrode and a CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) perovskite active absorbing material. It promoted carrier transportand led to an improved device with good ohmic-contacts. The solar cell was prepared as a bi-layer Mo/CuIn1−xGaxSe2/perovskite/C60/Ag multilayer of nano-structures on an FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide) glass substrate. The ultra-thin CuIn1−xGaxSe2 HTM layers were annealed at various temperatures of 400, 500, and 600 °C. Scanning electron microscopy studies revealed that the nano-crystal grain size of CuIn1−xGaxSe2 increased with the annealing temperature. The solar cell results show an improved optical power conversion efficiency at ~14.2%. The application of the CuIn1−xGaxSe2 layer with the perovskite absorbing material could be used for designing solar cells with a reduced HTM thickness. The CuIn1−xGaxSe2 HTM has been evidenced to maintain a properopen circuit voltage, short-circuit current density and photovoltaic stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CIGS Thin Films and Solar Cells)
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Review

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13 pages, 1138 KiB  
Review
Dielectric-Based Rear Surface Passivation Approaches for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells—A Review
by Gizem Birant, Jessica de Wild, Marc Meuris, Jef Poortmans and Bart Vermang
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(4), 677; https://doi.org/10.3390/app9040677 - 16 Feb 2019
Cited by 45 | Viewed by 4639
Abstract
This review summarizes all studies which used dielectric-based materials as a passivation layer at the rear surface of copper indium gallium (di)selenide, Cu(In,Ga)Se2, (CIGS)-based thin film solar cells, up to 2019. The results regarding the kind of dielectric materials, the deposition [...] Read more.
This review summarizes all studies which used dielectric-based materials as a passivation layer at the rear surface of copper indium gallium (di)selenide, Cu(In,Ga)Se2, (CIGS)-based thin film solar cells, up to 2019. The results regarding the kind of dielectric materials, the deposition techniques, contacting approaches, the existence of additional treatments, and current–voltage characteristics (J–V) of passivated devices are emphasized by a detailed table. The techniques used to implement the passivation layer, the contacting approach for the realization of the current flow between rear contact and absorber layer, additional light management techniques if applicable, the solar simulator results, and further characterization techniques, i.e., external quantum efficiency (EQE) and photoluminescence (PL), are shared and discussed. Three graphs show the difference between the reference and passivated devices in terms of open-circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current (Jsc), and efficiency (η), with respect to the thicknesses of the absorber layer. The effects of the passivation layer at the rear surface are discussed based on these three graphs. Furthermore, an additional section is dedicated to the theoretical aspects of the passivation mechanism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CIGS Thin Films and Solar Cells)
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