Exploiting High-Density Earth-Abundant Kesterite Quantum Wells for Next-Generation PV Technology

Quantum engineering in kesterite solar cells reveals a blending advancement keeping in mind that copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS)-based material requires high-research implementation as a replacement for copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) materials. In this article, quantum well-solar cells (QWSCs) on kesterite material is proposed in which CZTS(x)Se(1-x) and CZTS material is taken as well and barrier materials with different Sulfur (S) and Selenium (Se) content. All the optical, electrical, and material properties are investigated in detail to achieve high efficiency. The focus on the incorporation of a high number of quantum wells (QWs) (2 to 100 QWs) and performance analysis show the uniqueness of the study. Quantum efficiency (QE) of the solar cell with separate internal and external absorptions is also investigated here. Different issues on carrier propagation, recombination, and collection are emphasized to highlight the effect of carrier quantization in the material. A remarkable efficiency of 38% with 88% fill factor (FF) could be achieved from the broad range of the proposed structure, which may show a new path for next-generation solar cells.

Automated summary

The study proposed quantum well-solar cells based on kesterite material, achieving high solar cell efficiency through a large number of quantum wells and performance analysis. The research focused on the quantum efficiency of solar cells with separate internal and external absorptions, emphasizing the impact of carrier quantization on material properties.