The US Nationwide Renewable Vitality Laboratory (NREL) and First Photo voltaic used cracked movie lithography (CFL) to create a bifacial cadmium telluride photo voltaic cell with an influence density of 20.3 mW cm−2. They declare the cell has the next bifacial energy density than any polycrystalline absorber presently produced at scale.
NREL and US-based thin-film PV producer First Photo voltaic have constructed a cadmium telluride (CdTe) bifacial photo voltaic cell primarily based on a rear interface buffer fabricated from copper, gallium and monoxide (CuGaOx ). The scientists declare that they’ve achieved the next bifacial energy density than any polycrystalline absorber presently produced at scale. They used cracked movie lithography (CFL)-patterned steel grids to combine CuGaOx rear interface buffer of the photo voltaic cell.
“Frequent passivating layers, akin to Al2or3 and different oxides, are extremely resistive, should be utilized instantly on prime of CdTe, and require excessive temperature CdCl2 therapy after they’re deposited,” they stated, including that they used CFL to beat this situation. “CFL is a low-cost technique to manufacture metallic microgrids with wonderful properties for high-resistance purposes akin to CdTe.”
Researcher Chris Muzzillo stated CFLs are notably appropriate for CdTe cells due to their low price. “We discovered that relative to photolithography, CFLs have decrease supplies and gear prices for patterning steel grids in III-V photovoltaics,” he stated. pv journal.
Muzzillo and his staff describe their findings in “Cracked Movie Lithography with CuGaOx Buffers for Bifacial CdTe Photovoltaics,” just lately printed in Nano-Micro Small. In all CFL processes, the steel is grown instantly on the semiconductor floor, leading to high-quality interfaces with low contact resistance and improved stability.
Within the proposed cell configuration, the CuGaOx/ CFL grid samples ‘present larger passivity with their diminished gold (Au) space protection, which in flip ends in the next open circuit voltage for the photo voltaic cell. Additionally they assist enhance the system’s fill issue from 70.8% to 73.3%.
“We estimate that the earlier CdTe bifacial document, with 1 solar entrance and rear efficiencies of 12.5% and seven.6%, respectively, will generate 16.3 mW cm-2 of 1 solar entrance + 0.5 solar rear,” stated the analysis group. “However, our greatest CFL grid produces 20.3 mW cm-2 at 1 in entrance of the solar + 0.5 behind the solar—a 25% soar over the bifacial energy density document of CdTe, and at 1 in entrance of the solar + 0.1 behind the solar, our cell has 39% greater energy density.”
Muzzilo stated the commercialization of the cell is for consideration.
“In comparison with bifacial silicon, the again effectivity of bifacial CdTe stays comparatively low,” he concluded. “We’ll proceed to work on bettering back and front effectivity, with the purpose of demonstrating a excessive sufficient elevated energy density to justify the elevated complexity of the CFL-patterned bifacial CdTe course of.”
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