Modelling and numerical simulations of eco-friendly double absorber solar cell “Spiro-OmeTAD/CIGS/MASnI3/CdS/ZnO” and its PV-module

• Published in: Organic electronics 2023-06, Vol.117, p.106781, Article 106781
• Main Authors: Ahmad, Owais, Qasim, Irfan, Hasnain, Syed M., Abdin, Zain ul, Nasir, Muhammad Farooq, Malik, Muhammad Imran, Rashid, Asim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Efficiency; Geographical; Perovskite; Simulation; Tandem
• ISSN: 1566-1199; 1878-5530
• DOI: 10.1016/j.orgel.2023.106781

A broad study for design of higher efficiency modules based on low-cost, non-toxic Au/Spiro-OmeTAD/CIGS/MASnI3/CdS/ZnO/FTO tandem configuration solar cells has been conducted using solar cell capacitance simulator package “SCAPS-1D”. For the cause of highly efficient device performance, the selection of suitable layer materials such as “ZnO” as electron transport layer “ETL”, “CIGS” and “MASnI3→CH3NH3SnI3” as absorber, “Spiro-OmeTAD” as hole transport layer “HTL”, and CdS as active buffer layer material have been developed. The structural layout of the recommended composition was enhanced by variation in thickness of the specified layers, different back contact layers and temperature. The power conversion efficiency “PCE” was found to be 36.38%, along with other electrical parameters such as short-circuit current density “Jsc” of 48.28 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage “Voc” of 1.38 V, and fill factor of 54.24% for optimized layer thickness of 0.084 μm for “HTL”, 0.051 μm for ETL”, 0.028 μm for buffer layer, 2.10 μm and 1.51 μm for CIGS and CH3NH3SnI3 absorber layers respectively. The overall device performance in perspective of charge carrier generation and recombination was investigated in depth. The improvement of diffusion length has increased the charge carrier's generation around 3.69 μm and the recombination rate was found at a lower value of 2.2 μm which overall enhance the device performance. At standard conditions, the formation of supplementary electron-hole pairs by varying the absorber layers thickness shows the maximum extent for Jt, FF% and PCE% during optimized investigation. A module of dimensions (2.2 × 1.1) m consisting of 72 cells in series was configured in PVsyst software to get the panel performance. Input parameters obtained through solar capacitance simulator were incorporated to evaluate module performance and output power by variation in solar irradiation and temperature. Yearly performance ratio for home location has been explored and reported. Future inclination of global photovoltaic (PV) industry is towards Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to their salient features of high stability and low manufacturing cost. Use of perovskites along with other suitable absorber materials of different energy band can help to absorb greater part of solar spectrum in device structure. Newly designed and optimized Au/Spiro-OmeTAD/CIGS/MASnI3/CdS/ZnO/FTO tandem solar cell configuration is presented with a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 36.38%