Open AccessCIS photovoltaic technology. Annual technical report, January 12, 1995--January 11, 1996
Author(s) -
A. E. Delahoy,
J. Britt,
Andrew M. Gabor
Publication year - 1996
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/258177
Subject(s) - copper indium gallium selenide solar cells , photovoltaic system , process engineering , process (computing) , deposition (geology) , scale (ratio) , materials science , evaporation , recipe , characterization (materials science) , engineering physics , computer science , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , electrical engineering , thin film , engineering , physics , geology , chemistry , paleontology , quantum mechanics , sediment , operating system , food science , thermodynamics
EPV`s overall strategy in developing CIGS photovoltaic technology has been to define and construct a flexible set of large area vacuum deposition equipment and to explore CIGS formation recipes that can be implemented on this equipment. This is the inverse of the conventional approach in which manufacturing techniques are sought that can reproduce a high efficiency laboratory scale process over large areas. A feature of this equipment is the use of proprietary linear sources capable of downwards evaporation. Using recipes generated within this program, CIGS cells with efficiencies up to 13.9% were prepared by EPV under a separate CRADA with NREL. Entirely within this program, an aperture area efficiency of 9.6% was achieved for a laminated submodule of area 135.2 cm{sup 2}. Considerable effort has gone into the preparation and characterization of CIGS prepared on substrates measuring 96.5 cm x 44.5 cm, and good compositional uniformity has been achieved along both the short and long directions of the plate. Despite this, the material has not yet achieved the efficiency levels demonstrated in smaller scale equipment, and recipe development is ongoing. As part of a program to eliminate, if possible, the use of CdS, alternative buffer layers such as InSe, In{sub x}S{sub y}, and ZnSe have been explored, and, to gain insight into junction formation, CdSe. Of these compounds, ZnSe has shown the most promise, and further experiments are being conducted to optimize material and device properties