Cu(In,Al)Se2 thin film solar cells
Sylvain Marsillac
Laboratory of Materials for Photovoltaics, France
Abstract
Significant effort has been devoted to developing high efficiency
CuInSe2
alloy based solar cells with increasing absorber layer band gaps (Eg).
These efforts have been primarily motivated by expectations of higher
cell
and module efficiency, as well as new development of cell designs and
applications. Among these new materials, Cu(In,Al)Se2 thin films have
demonstrated their high potential, with cells reaching 16.9% efficiency.
In
this presentation, critical issues for Cu(In,Al)Se2 thin film solar
cells
will be discussed, focusing on optical properties of thin films and on
solar cell device behavior with increasing band gap. The effects of
different flux-time-temperature profiles for Cu(In,Al)Se2 evaporation
will
also be characterized with respect to both film morphology and
structure,
and device behavior for Cu(In,Al)Se2 films with band gaps from 1.1 to
1.7
eV. Finally, prospects will be reviewed for Cu(In,Al)Se2 as a potential
absorber layer in wide band gap solar cells.