Gradient bandgap modification for highly efficient carrier transport in antimony sulfide-selenide tandem solar cells

Cao Y, Liu C, Yang T, Zhao Y, Na Y, Jiang C, Zhou J, Pang J, Liu H, Rummeli MH, Zhou W, Cuniberti G (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells Elsevier

Book Volume: 246

Article Number: 111926

DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2022.111926

Abstract

Antimony chalcogenides emerge as a type of efficient material for solar cells. In particular, antimony sulfide-selenide (SbSSe) has attracted significant interests based on their simple preparation, excellent photoelectric performance, and tunable bandgaps. In this study, by applying energy-band engineering technologies, we achieved carrier transport balance and light absorption balance for SbSSe single- and triple-junction solar cells, respectively. First in a single junction solar cell, the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of SbSSe solar cells is improved from 13.14% to 16.16% with a front-gradient Se content structure compared to a non-gradient Se content SbSSe solar cell. This improvement is attributed to the additional electric field induced by such a gradient bandgap, promoting the carrier motion. Consequently, the balance of carrier transport is realized by adjusting the drift velocities of holes and electrons simultaneously, thereby surpassing carrier recombination and improving the device parameters of short-circuit current density (Jsc) and fill factor (FF). In a next step, an SbSSe of advanced gradient bandgap has been applied as the absorber layer of middle-cell in an antimony chalcogenide based triple-junction solar cell. Based on the high Jsc and FF advantages of SbSSe sub-cells with front-gradient Se content structure, the uniform absorption of sunlight in each sub-cell and current matching of tandem solar cells could be easily realized. Eventually, the PCE of the triple-junction solar cell exhibits an enhancement from 17.34% to 19.51%. Our results demonstrate that the application of energy-band engineering technology can effectively improve device performance, providing theoretical guidance for the refined design and nanomanufacturing development of antimony chalcogenide solar cells.

Involved external institutions

Northeast Electric Power University CN China (CN) China Railway Design Corporation / 中国铁路设计集团有限公司 CN China (CN) Shandong-University (SDU) CN China (CN) Soochow University, Suzhou / 苏州大学 CN China (CN) Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Cao, Y., Liu, C., Yang, T., Zhao, Y., Na, Y., Jiang, C.,... Cuniberti, G. (2022). Gradient bandgap modification for highly efficient carrier transport in antimony sulfide-selenide tandem solar cells. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 246. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2022.111926

MLA:

Cao, Yu, et al. "Gradient bandgap modification for highly efficient carrier transport in antimony sulfide-selenide tandem solar cells." Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 246 (2022).

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