Photoluminescence characteristics of CdS layers deposited in a chemical bath and their correlation to CdS/CdTe solar cell performance

• Published in: Solar energy 2006-06, Vol.80 (6), p.682-686
• Main Authors: Mendoza-Pérez, R., Aguilar-Hernández, J., Sastre-Hernández, J., Ximello-Quiebras, N., Contreras-Puente, G., Santana-Rodríguez, G., Vigil-Galán, O., Moreno-García, E., Morales-Acevedo, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; CdS; CdTe solar cells; Chemical reactions; Energy; Equipments, installations and applications; Exact sciences and technology; Luminescence; Natural energy; Photoluminescence; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic conversion; Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells; Solar energy
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2006.01.002

In this work, we study CdS films processed by chemical bath deposition (CBD) using different thiourea concentrations in the bath solution with post-thermal treatments using CdCl 2. We study the effects of the thiourea concentration on the photovoltaic performance of the CdS/CdTe solar cells, by the analysis of the I– V curve, for S/Cd ratios in the CBD solution from 3 to 8. In this range of S/Cd ratios the CdS/CdTe solar cells show variations of the open circuit voltage ( V oc), the short circuit current ( J sc) and the fill factor (FF). Other experimental data such as the optical transmittance and photoluminescence were obtained in order to correlate to the I– V characteristics of the solar cells. The best performance of CdS–CdTe solar cells made with CdS films obtained with a S/Cd ratio of 6 is explained in terms of the sulfur vacancies to sulfur interstitials ratio in the CBD–CdS layers.