A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cell
Transition metal di-chalcogenides (TMCDs)-Tungsten disulfide (WS2) exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties such as suitable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, good conductivity, high carrier mobility, etc. to be used as a photovoltaic material for thin-film solar cells. In the present work, w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023016456 |
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| author | E.I. Emon A.M. Islam M.K. Sobayel S. Islam Md Akhtaruzzaman N. Amin A. Ahmed M.J. Rashid |
| author_facet | E.I. Emon A.M. Islam M.K. Sobayel S. Islam Md Akhtaruzzaman N. Amin A. Ahmed M.J. Rashid |
| author_sort | E.I. Emon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Transition metal di-chalcogenides (TMCDs)-Tungsten disulfide (WS2) exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties such as suitable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, good conductivity, high carrier mobility, etc. to be used as a photovoltaic material for thin-film solar cells. In the present work, we have replaced the traditional buffer CdS and ITO/ZnO window layer in CdTe solar cells with the non-toxic, earth-abundant WS2 buffer and SnO2 window layer, respectively. The SCAPS-1D solar simulator is used to investigate the potentiality of WS2 as buffer material in CdTe solar cells. This numerical study provides a comparison of the performances between the proposed structure: SnO2/WS2/CdTe/Au and the baseline structure: ITO/ZnO/CdS/CdTe/Au. The impacts of the charge carrier generation rate, spectral response, current-voltage characteristics, bulk defect density, defect density at buffer/absorber interface, operating temperature, and capacitance-voltage characteristics on the solar cell performance parameters have also been analyzed. The tolerance level of defect density in WS2 bulk and WS2/CdTe interface are found to be 1017 cm−3 and 1012 cm−3, respectively. The temperature study reveals the poor structural robustness and thermal stability of the proposed cell. The conversion efficiency of the proposed cell has found to be 20.55% at the optimized device structure. Nevertheles, these findings may provide an insight to fabricate viable, environment friendly, and inexpensive CdTe thin-film solar cells. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:23:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6c746dfd72824f55b45ba274dbb60680 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:23:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-6c746dfd72824f55b45ba274dbb606802023-04-05T08:25:32ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-03-0193e14438A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cellE.I. Emon0A.M. Islam1M.K. Sobayel2S. Islam3Md Akhtaruzzaman4N. Amin5A. Ahmed6M.J. Rashid7Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshSolar Energy Research Institute, The National University of Malaysia, Bangi 43600, MalaysiaDepartment of Information and Communication Technology, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka 1216, Bangladesh; Corresponding author.Solar Energy Research Institute, The National University of Malaysia, Bangi 43600, MalaysiaInstitute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang 43000, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh; Semiconductor Technology Research Center, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh; Corresponding author. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.Transition metal di-chalcogenides (TMCDs)-Tungsten disulfide (WS2) exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties such as suitable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, good conductivity, high carrier mobility, etc. to be used as a photovoltaic material for thin-film solar cells. In the present work, we have replaced the traditional buffer CdS and ITO/ZnO window layer in CdTe solar cells with the non-toxic, earth-abundant WS2 buffer and SnO2 window layer, respectively. The SCAPS-1D solar simulator is used to investigate the potentiality of WS2 as buffer material in CdTe solar cells. This numerical study provides a comparison of the performances between the proposed structure: SnO2/WS2/CdTe/Au and the baseline structure: ITO/ZnO/CdS/CdTe/Au. The impacts of the charge carrier generation rate, spectral response, current-voltage characteristics, bulk defect density, defect density at buffer/absorber interface, operating temperature, and capacitance-voltage characteristics on the solar cell performance parameters have also been analyzed. The tolerance level of defect density in WS2 bulk and WS2/CdTe interface are found to be 1017 cm−3 and 1012 cm−3, respectively. The temperature study reveals the poor structural robustness and thermal stability of the proposed cell. The conversion efficiency of the proposed cell has found to be 20.55% at the optimized device structure. Nevertheles, these findings may provide an insight to fabricate viable, environment friendly, and inexpensive CdTe thin-film solar cells.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023016456Numerical studyTransition metal di-chalcogenides (TMCDs)Tungsten disulfide (WS2)Buffer layerCdTe Solar cell |
| spellingShingle | E.I. Emon A.M. Islam M.K. Sobayel S. Islam Md Akhtaruzzaman N. Amin A. Ahmed M.J. Rashid A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cell Heliyon Numerical study Transition metal di-chalcogenides (TMCDs) Tungsten disulfide (WS2) Buffer layer CdTe Solar cell |
| title | A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cell |
| title_full | A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cell |
| title_fullStr | A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cell |
| title_full_unstemmed | A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cell |
| title_short | A comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide (WS2) buffer layer based CdTe solar cell |
| title_sort | comprehensive photovoltaic study on tungsten disulfide ws2 buffer layer based cdte solar cell |
| topic | Numerical study Transition metal di-chalcogenides (TMCDs) Tungsten disulfide (WS2) Buffer layer CdTe Solar cell |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023016456 |
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