Efficiency enhancement of CIGS solar cell by cubic silicon carbide as prospective buffer layer

Cubic Silicon Carbide (3C-SiC) can be a potential photovoltaic material for thin-film solar cells because of its wide bandgap and non-toxic nature. In this work, we present 3C-SiC as an alternative to the conventional CdS buffer layer and investigate the performance of the proposed 3C-SiC/CIGS cell structure using solar simulator SCAPS-1D. The simulation starts with the optimization of 3C-SiC buffer layer thickness followed by the study of conduction band offsets (CBO) impact on the photovoltaic performance parameters. The highest obtained efficiency is 25.51% (Voc = 0.94 V, Jsc = 31.46 mA/cm2) at CBO, Delta Ec = 0.91 eV with the optimized buffer thickness. The linear extrapolation study of Voc as a function of temperature yields the activation energy which tells the existence of interface recombination centres. Next, the inclusion of the acceptor defect state at the 3C-SiC/CIGS interface determines the maximum acceptable defect density of the proposed cell structure. Afterward, the thermal stability through temperature study is performed and compared to the traditional CdS/CIGS structure. The results provided here give few paramount indications that lead to a highly efficient CIGS solar cell with a 3CSiC buffer layer.

Automated summary

Cubic Silicon Carbide (3C-SiC) is considered as a potential material for thin-film solar cells due to its wide bandgap and non-toxic properties. A study was conducted to investigate the performance of 3C-SiC as an alternative to conventional CdS buffer layer in CIGS solar cells, resulting in a maximum efficiency of 25.51% with optimized buffer thickness and conduction band offsets. The research also focused on studying the impact of temperature on interface recombination centers and determining the acceptable defect density for the proposed cell structure.