Design and numerical investigation of cadmium telluride (CdTe) and iron silicide (FeSi2) based double absorber solar cells to enhance power conversion efficiency

TL;DR

This study designs and simulates a double-absorber CdTe/FeSi2 solar cell structure, demonstrating nearly doubling efficiency compared to single absorber cells through optimization of layer thicknesses and material properties.

Contribution

It introduces a novel double-absorber structure using FeSi2 with CdTe, optimized via SCAPS-1D simulation for enhanced photovoltaic performance.

Findings

Efficiency increased from 13.26% to 27.35% with double absorption.

Optimized layer thicknesses are 0.5 μm for absorbers and 50 nm for the window.

Quantum efficiency improved at longer wavelengths due to FeSi2 layer.

Abstract

Inorganic CdTe and FeSi2-based solar cells have recently drawn a lot of attention because they offer superior thermal stability and good optoelectronic properties compared to conventional solar cells. In this work, a unique alternative technique is presented by using FeSi2 as a secondary absorber layer and In2S3 as the window layer for improving photovoltaic (PV) performance parameters. Simulating on SCAPS-1D, the proposed double-absorber (Cu/FTO/In2S3/CdTe/FeSi2/Ni) structure is thoroughly examined and analyzed. The window layer thickness, absorber layer thickness, acceptor density (NA), donor density (ND), defect density (Nt), series resistance (RS), and shunt resistance (Rsh) were simulated in detail for optimization of the above configuration to improve PV performance. According to this study, 0.5 um is the optimized thickness for both the CdTe and FeSi2 absorber layers in order to maximize efficiency. Here, the value of the optimum window layer thickness is 50 nm. For using CdTe as a single absorber, the efficiency is achieved by 13.26%. But for using CdTe and FeSi2 as a dual absorber, the efficiency is enhanced and the obtaining value is 27.35%. The other parameters are also improved and the obtaining values for fill factor (FF) are 83.68%, open-circuit voltage (Voc) is 0.6566V, and short circuit current density (JSc) is 49.78 mA/cm2. Furthermore, the proposed model performs good at 300 K operating temperature. The addition of the FeSi2 layer to the cell structure has resulted in a significant quantum efficiency (QE) enhancement because of the rise in solar spectrum absorption at longer wavelengths. The findings of this work offer a promising approach for producing high-performance and reasonably priced CdTe-based solar cells.