Cu3BiS3, Cu3BiS4, Ga3BiS3 and Cu5Ga2BiS8 as potential solar absorbers for thin film photovoltaics

The development of novel solar absorbers and device architectures that incorporate only materials which are cost effective, abundant, and non-toxic may be required for widespread deployment of photovoltaics. We have identified four potential solar absorbers as possible candidates for photovoltaic applications. Cu₃BiS₃ (E_g=1.2 eV) has been previously reported to be a suitable solar absorber. Three additional compounds: Cu₃BiS₄, Ga₃BiS₃, and Cu₅Ga₂BiS₈, have been targeted for exploratory synthesis. Once a suitable absorber has been identified, development of novel device architectures will be carried out using combinatorial methods in an effort to produce a device exhibiting sufficient efficiency to capture the interest of the photovoltaics community.