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Coatings
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Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications
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Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 December 2016) | Viewed by 37807

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. I. M. Dharmadasa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Materials and Engineering Research Institute, Sheffield Hallam University, City Campus, Howard Street, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK
Interests: electrodeposition of electronic materials; semiconductors; solar energy materials; thin film solar cells; photovoltaic solar energy conversion; graded bandgap solar cells; use of clean energy for social development and reduction of poverty; solar villages
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is dedicated to critical reviews and original research articles on "Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications". The main aim is to share new knowledge on this subject, by publishing latest developments in thin film photovoltaics.

Thin film photovoltaics have been stagnant for a while, but then the progress during the past few years has been very impressive. For example, CdTe, CuInGaSe2, and Perovskite thin film solar cells have all entered into low 20% conversion efficiencies. This is mainly due to the progress in understanding materials and device issues, and improvement in processing steps. It is apparent that many issues relevant to thin film solar cells are common to most of the material systems under investigation at present.

The PV community is also focussing their research on next generation solar cells incorporating ideas, such as graded bandgap devices, nano- and micro-rod type materials, grain boundary enhanced current collection, etc., to increase the solar to electric conversion efficiency. This call for papers invites comprehensive reviews from research leaders and relevant original research articles from active researchers from this subject area.

Prof. Dr. I. M. Dharmadasa
Guest Editor

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. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • New materials for PV applications
  • CdTe and related materials
  • CuInGaSe2 and related alloys
  • Dye sensitized solar cells
  • Kesterites
  • Perovskites
  • Organic PV materials and devices
  • Hybrid solar cells
  • Graded bandgap multi-layer devices
  • New device concepts and architechtures

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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1793 KiB  
Article
Effect of Electrochemically Deposited MgO Coating on Printable Perovskite Solar Cell Performance
by T. A. Nirmal Peiris, Ajay K. Baranwal, Hiroyuki Kanda, Shouta Fukumoto, Shusaku Kanaya, Takeru Bessho, Ludmila Cojocaru, Tsutomu Miyasaka, Hiroshi Segawa and Seigo Ito
Coatings 2017, 7(3), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings7030036 - 27 Feb 2017
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 7263
Abstract
Herein, we studied the effect of MgO coating thickness on the performance of printable perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by varying the electrodeposition time of Mg(OH)2 on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/TiO2 electrode. Electrodeposited Mg(OH)2 in the electrode was confirmed by [...] Read more.
Herein, we studied the effect of MgO coating thickness on the performance of printable perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by varying the electrodeposition time of Mg(OH)2 on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/TiO2 electrode. Electrodeposited Mg(OH)2 in the electrode was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images. The performance of printable PSC structures on different deposition times of Mg(OH)2 was evaluated on the basis of their photocurrent density-voltage characteristics. The overall results confirmed that the insulating MgO coating has an adverse effect on the photovoltaic performance of the solid state printable PSCs. However, a marginal improvement in the device efficiency was obtained for the device made with the 30 s electrodeposited TiO2 electrode. We believe that this undesirable effect on the photovoltaic performance of the printable PSCs is due to the higher coverage of TiO2 by the insulating MgO layer attained by the electrodeposition technique. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications)
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4397 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of Efficient Cu2ZnSnS4 Solar Cells by Sputtering Single Stoichiometric Target
by Hongtao Cui, Xiaolei Liu, Lingling Sun, Fangyang Liu, Chang Yan and Xiaojing Hao
Coatings 2017, 7(2), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings7020019 - 24 Jan 2017
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5305
Abstract
Low cost single stoichiometric target sputtering of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) precursor has been adopted to fabricate CZTS solar cells. The effect of a series of deposition pressures and deposition durations on the device performance has been investigated. A 3.74% efficient solar [...] Read more.
Low cost single stoichiometric target sputtering of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) precursor has been adopted to fabricate CZTS solar cells. The effect of a series of deposition pressures and deposition durations on the device performance has been investigated. A 3.74% efficient solar cell has been achieved at a base pressure of 1 × 10−4 Torr with a stoichiometric target, which to the authors’ knowledge, is the record efficiency for such a stoichiometric target. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications)
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3986 KiB  
Article
Electroplating of CdTe Thin Films from Cadmium Sulphate Precursor and Comparison of Layers Grown by 3-Electrode and 2-Electrode Systems
by Imyhamy M. Dharmadasa, Mohammad L. Madugu, Olajide I. Olusola, Obi K. Echendu, Fijay Fauzi, Dahiru G. Diso, Ajith R. Weerasinghe, Thad Druffel, Ruvini Dharmadasa, Brandon Lavery, Jacek B. Jasinski, Tatiana A. Krentsel and Gamini Sumanasekera
Coatings 2017, 7(2), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings7020017 - 24 Jan 2017
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 6657
Abstract
Electrodeposition of CdTe thin films was carried out from the late 1970s using the cadmium sulphate precursor. The solar energy group at Sheffield Hallam University has carried out a comprehensive study of CdTe thin films electroplated using cadmium sulfate, cadmium nitrate and cadmium [...] Read more.
Electrodeposition of CdTe thin films was carried out from the late 1970s using the cadmium sulphate precursor. The solar energy group at Sheffield Hallam University has carried out a comprehensive study of CdTe thin films electroplated using cadmium sulfate, cadmium nitrate and cadmium chloride precursors, in order to select the best electrolyte. Some of these results have been published elsewhere, and this manuscript presents the summary of the results obtained on CdTe layers grown from cadmium sulphate precursor. In addition, this research program has been exploring the ways of eliminating the reference electrode, since this is a possible source of detrimental impurities, such as K+ and Ag+ for CdS/CdTe solar cells. This paper compares the results obtained from CdTe layers grown by three-electrode (3E) and two-electrode (2E) systems for their material properties and performance in CdS/CdTe devices. Thin films were characterized using a wide range of analytical techniques for their structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties. These layers have also been used in device structures; glass/FTO/CdS/CdTe/Au and CdTe from both methods have produced solar cells to date with efficiencies in the region of 5%–13%. Comprehensive work carried out to date produced comparable and superior devices fabricated from materials grown using 2E system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications)
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3454 KiB  
Article
Fullerene-Based Electron Transport Layers for Semi-Transparent MAPbBr3 Perovskite Films in Planar Perovskite Solar Cells
by Lung-Chien Chen, Zong-Liang Tseng, Jun-Kai Huang, Cheng-Chiang Chen and Sheng Hsiung Chang
Coatings 2016, 6(4), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings6040053 - 28 Oct 2016
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 8020
Abstract
In this study, four kinds of structures—[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), PCBM/fullerene (C60), C60/bathocuproine (BCP), and PCBM/C60/BCP—were used as electron transport layers, and the structure, and optical and electronic behaviors of MAPbBr3 perovskite layers [...] Read more.
In this study, four kinds of structures—[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), PCBM/fullerene (C60), C60/bathocuproine (BCP), and PCBM/C60/BCP—were used as electron transport layers, and the structure, and optical and electronic behaviors of MAPbBr3 perovskite layers after annealing treatments were observed. The experimental results indicate that PCBM/C60 bi-layer structure is acceptable for MAPbBr3 planar perovskite solar cells due to electron step transporting. Low-temperature annealing is suitable for smooth and large grain MAPbBr3 films. The semi-transparent yellow C60/PCBM/MAPbBr3/PEDOT:PSS/ITO glass-structure solar cells exhibit the best performance with a power conversion efficiency of 4.19%. The solar cells are revealed to be suitable for application in building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications)
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Review

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6133 KiB  
Review
SnS Thin Film Solar Cells: Perspectives and Limitations
by Simone Di Mare, Daniele Menossi, Andrei Salavei, Elisa Artegiani, Fabio Piccinelli, Arun Kumar, Gino Mariotto and Alessandro Romeo
Coatings 2017, 7(2), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings7020034 - 22 Feb 2017
Cited by 49 | Viewed by 9968
Abstract
Thin film solar cells have reached commercial maturity and extraordinarily high efficiency that make them competitive even with the cheaper Chinese crystalline silicon modules. However, some issues (connected with presence of toxic and/or rare elements) are still limiting their market diffusion. For this [...] Read more.
Thin film solar cells have reached commercial maturity and extraordinarily high efficiency that make them competitive even with the cheaper Chinese crystalline silicon modules. However, some issues (connected with presence of toxic and/or rare elements) are still limiting their market diffusion. For this reason new thin film materials, such as Cu2ZnSnS4 or SnS, have been introduced so that expensive In and Te, and toxic elements Se and Cd, are substituted, respectively, in CuInGaSe2 and CdTe. To overcome the abundance limitation of Te and In, in recent times new thin film materials, such as Cu2ZnSnS4 or SnS, have been investigated. In this paper we analyze the limitations of SnS deposition in terms of reproducibility and reliability. SnS deposited by thermal evaporation is analyzed by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The raw material is also analyzed and a different composition is observed according to the different number of evaporation (runs). The sulfur loss represents one of the major challenges of SnS solar cell technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Semiconductors for Photovoltaic Applications)
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