Title :
Bridging the Gap: Modeling the variation due to grain size distribution in CdTe solar cells
Author :
Mungan, Elif Selin ; Dongaonkar, Sourabh ; Alam, Md. Ashraful
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN, USA
Abstract :
In this paper, we develop a multi-scale, hierarchical cell-to-module modeling approach to interpret and predict the effects of average grain size and grain size distribution on the cell efficiency of polycrystalline thin film solar cells, specifically, that of close space sublimated (CSS) CdTe. Our results explain why (1) increasing grain size improves cell performance, (2) the performance saturates beyond a critical grain size, (3) the effect of grain size distribution is averaged over larger length-scales, and therefore, (4) the observed empirical distribution of module efficacy must be attributed to sources other than grain-size distribution.
Keywords :
II-VI semiconductors; cadmium compounds; grain boundaries; grain size; integrated circuit modelling; numerical analysis; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; statistical analysis; thin film devices; CSS; CdTe; average grain size effects; cell efficiency; close space sublimated CdTe; grain boundaries; grain size distribution; length-scales; module efficacy; multiscale hierarchical cell-to-module modeling approach; numerical simulations; polycrystalline thin film solar cells; solar cells; statistical analysis; Cascading style sheets; Computational modeling; Grain size; Integrated circuit modeling; Numerical models; Photovoltaic cells; Predictive models; grain boundaries; numerical simulations; photovoltaic cells; statistical analysis; thin film devices;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2013 IEEE 39th
Conference_Location :
Tampa, FL
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2013.6744866
