Solar Cells: Applications and Current Opinion

Abstract

Due to the manufacturing process, silicon-based solar cells have conquered the marketplace, but their cost is not economic. As a result, thin-film manufacturing was done with low-cost, appealing materials generated using less expensive, scalable, and manufacturable procedures. The motivation behind this work is to develop low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells using chemical and electrochemical techniques. Thin film solar cell structure could be presented as glass, Cu structure, CdS window material, TCO, and CdTe absorber material. The absorber and window materials include layers such as CdS and CdTe, while Cu and TCO are the back and front contacts. By using CSS and chemical bath deposition (CBD), The usual method of making this structure is to grow window (CdS) and absorber (CdTe) materials. CBD is a batch method that generates enormous quantities of Cd-containing waste solutions each time, adding to the production process's high cost. Sputtering or PVD, including high vacuum conditions, is performed with back and front contacts. This research program focuses on developing an "all chemical-solar cell" structure. This study showed that CdS and CdTe materials may be employed and electrodeposited in thin-film solar cell systems, CBD and electroless techniques. Furthermore, the back and front contacts can be coated using the CdS electrolytic bath, which is utilized for seven months without being discarded, but the CBD bath lasts 2-3 days. The deposition rate of the thin films was about 50 - 100 times greater than reported values in the literature. The efficiency of the manufactured cells was between 1 and 6%, which was reduced by the duration of time. Twenty days after manufacturing a TCO, CdS, CdTe, the short-circuit current, Cu-Ag solar cell, and open-circuit voltage deposited by all chemical and electrochemical deposition techniques were 0.8 mA/cm2 and 8.8 mV, respectively. However, consistency and reproducibility remain unresolved. The growth of CdTe nanocrystalline thin film is one of the reasons it has been identified as having nanosized tracks. High-quality CdTe layers should be developed, or in cadmium solar cells, its layered structure is the form of a cadmium window and a zinc oxide buffer layer to increase the consistency of the solar cell efficiency.