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Prof. Dr. Francisco De Moure-Flores

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Guest Editor

Chemical Faculty, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Queretaro 76010, Mexico
Interests: transparent conductive oxide; absorbent coating for solar cells applications; photovoltaic windows; thin films photovoltaics

Dr. Angel Guillén Cervantes

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Physics Departament, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del IPN, CDMX, P.O. Box 14-740, Mexico City CP 07360, Mexico
Interests: physical properties of semiconductor materials with applications in solar energy conversion; structural characterization of nanomaterials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Given the current energy needs, it is necessary to carry out research in material science that can be applied to solar energy. The development of materials in bulk and thin film technology is of great importance to obtain devices that allow the use of solar energy in a sustainable way. To reduce the costs of such devices, it is necessary to develop new materials and/or improve the properties of existing materials.

The present issue aims to consolidate recent findings related to thin film photovoltaics and solar energy and to provide an opportunity for researchers to publish the latest results, reviews, methodology, and failure case reports to understand or solve problems in thin film photovoltaics and solar energy. We welcome the submission of original, high-quality papers and critical reviews.

The scope of this Special Issue includes but is not limited to the following areas:

Thin films, obtained by several techniques, for photovoltaic applications.
Optical properties of materials.
Organic and inorganic solar cells.
Photoelectrochemical applications.
Physical and chemical properties including modeling of functional coatings for photovoltaics and solar energy.

Prof. Dr. Francisco De Moure-Flores
Dr. Angel Guillén Cervantes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

solar cells
thin film photovoltaics
photoelectrochemical
optoelectronic properties

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 4426 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of CdS/CdTe Ultrathin-Film Solar Cells with Different CdS Thin-Film Thicknesses Obtained by RF Sputtering

by J. A. Melchor-Robles, K. E. Nieto-Zepeda, N. E. Vázquez-Barragán, M. Arreguín-Campos, K. Rodríguez-Rosales, J. Cruz-Gómez, A. Guillén-Cervantes, J. Santos-Cruz, M. de la L. Olvera, G. Contreras-Puente and F. de Moure-Flores

Coatings 2024, 14(4), 452; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14040452 - 9 Apr 2024

Viewed by 585

Abstract

The development of semitransparent CdS/CdTe ultrathin solar cells has been delayed as a result of the activation annealing to which the device must be subjected, which may involve problems such as the sublimation of ultrathin films and the diffusion of Cd and S at the interface. In this work, CdS/CdTe ultrathin devices on soda-lime glass/SnO₂:F/ZnO substrates were obtained by RF magnetron sputtering. CdS/CdTe ultrathin heterostructures were obtained with the following thicknesses for the CdS thin film: 70, 110, and 135 nm. The CdTe thickness film was kept constant at 620 nm. Subsequently, activation annealing with CdCl₂ was carried out at 400 °C. Surface characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy, which indicated that the CdCl₂ annealing tripled the CdTe thin films’ grain size. Raman characterization showed that CdS thin films deposited by RF sputtering present the first, the second, and the third longitudinal optical modes, indicating the good crystallinity of the CdS thin films. The study showed that the photovoltaic properties of the CdS/CdTe ultrathin devices improved as the CdS thicknesses decreased. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Layers in Thin Film Photovoltaics and Solar Energy)

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19 pages, 1571 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Simulation Study of the Performance of Conventional and Inverted Hybrid Tin-Based Perovskite Solar Cells

by Jack Arayro, Rabih Mezher and Hussein Sabbah

Coatings 2023, 13(7), 1258; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings13071258 - 17 Jul 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1410

Abstract

A hybrid tin-based (GA

_{0.2}

_{0.78}

SnI

_{3}

-1% EDAI

_{2}

) perovskite solar cell (PSC) with a p-i-n inverted structure has been reported to pass all the rigorous standard tests successfully and achieve a certified power conversion [...] Read more.

A hybrid tin-based (GA

_{0.2}

_{0.78}

SnI

_{3}

-1% EDAI

_{2}

) perovskite solar cell (PSC) with a p-i-n inverted structure has been reported to pass all the rigorous standard tests successfully and achieve a certified power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.3%. Our previous numerical study showed that this PCE could be considerably increased to 24.1% by engineering and controlling the interfaces of the cell. The aim of the current study is to compare the performance of a conventional n-i-p structure with its inverted p-i-n analog quantitatively, and demonstrate that, by improving the conventional structure, it can achieve a PCE score approximately equal to the inverted p-i-n structure. To that end, the absorber layer was chosen to be GA

_{0.2}

_{0.78}

SnI

_{3}

-1% EDAI

_{2}

, while four ETL (electron transport layer) materials (TiO

_{2}

, WS

_{2}

, SnO

_{2}

, and ZnOS), and four HTL (hole transport layer) materials (PEDOT:PSS, Cu

_{2}

O, CuSCN, and CuI) were considered. Most used ETL/HTL combinations have been rigorously investigated with the aim of finding the ultimate configuration, providing the highest photovoltaic properties. Additionally, the effect of the layers’ thicknesses and their doping concentrations were inspected, and their impact on the photovoltaic properties of the PSC was investigated. The optimized structure with CuI (copper iodide) as the HTL and ZnOS (zinc oxysulphide) as the ETL scored a PCE of 24.1%, which is comparable to the value found with the inverted structure (26%). The current numerical simulation on GA

_{0.2}

_{0.78}

SnI

_{3}

-1% EDAI

_{2}

could be considered as a milestone in its chances for commercial development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Layers in Thin Film Photovoltaics and Solar Energy)

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