SHORT COMMUNICATION: ACCELERATED PUBLICATION: Diode characteristics in state‐of‐the‐art ZnO/CdS/Cu(In 1− x Ga x )Se 2 solar cells

We report a new state of the art in thin‐film polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 ‐based solar cells with the attainment of energy conversion efficiencies of 19·5%. An analysis of the performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells in terms of some absorber properties and other derived diode parameters is presented. The analysis reveals that the highest‐performance cells can be associated with absorber bandgap values of ∼1·14 eV, resulting in devices with the lowest values of diode saturation current density (∼3×10 −8  mA/cm 2 ) and diode quality factors in the range 1·30 < A < 1·35. The data presented also support arguments of a reduced space charge region recombination as the reason for the improvement in the performance of such devices. In addition, a discussion is presented regarding the dependence of performance on energy bandgap, with an emphasis on wide‐bandgap Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 materials and views toward improving efficiency to > 1;20% in thin‐film polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 solar cells. Published in 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.