Thin film solar cell performance limits and potential

Author

Topic, Marko ; Lipovsek, Benjamin ; Campa, A. ; Krc, Janez ; Sites, James R.

Author_Institution

Fac. of Electr. Eng., Univ. of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

fYear

2013

fDate

16-21 June 2013

Firstpage

2052

Lastpage

2055

Abstract

Limitations in performance of single-junction thin film solar cells are reviewed. Conversion efficiency in single junction solar cells is systematically analyzed in terms of energy conversion efficiency, electrical efficiency and optical efficiency. The analysis reveals a strong dependence of limitations in single junction solar cells on the band-gap of the absorber. In the case of CIGS solar cells, the band gap can be varied from 1.04 ev to 1.7 eV, which allows considerable opportunity to optimize for both band gap and the associated temperature coefficient.

Keywords

copper compounds; energy gap; gallium compounds; indium compounds; semiconductor junctions; semiconductor thin films; solar cells; thin film devices; CIGS solar cells; Cu(GaIn)Se₂; associated temperature coefficient; band-gap; conversion efficiency; electrical efficiency; energy conversion efficiency; optical efficiency; single-junction thin film solar cells; thin film solar cell performance; Absorption; Optical losses; Optical reflection; Photonic band gap; Photonics; Photovoltaic cells; CIGS; conversion efficiency; photovoltaic cell; single junction;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2013 IEEE 39th

Conference_Location

Tampa, FL

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2013.6744876

Filename

6744876