Development of CZTS-based thin film solar cells

The low cost, environmental harmless Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS)-based thin film solar cells are fabricated by using abundant materials. The CZTS film possesses promising characteristic optical properties; band-gap energy of about 1.5 eV and large absorption coefficient in the order of 10(4) cm(-1). All constituents of this CZTS film, which are abundant in the crust of the earth, are non-toxic. Therefore, if we can use CZTS film practically as the absorber of solar cells, we will be free from both of the resource saving problem and the environmental pollution. In our CZTS project, CZTS absorber films were prepared by two independent techniques. One is three rf sources co-sputtering followed by annealing in sulfurized atmosphere. The latest conversion efficiency of over 6.7% was achieved by this technique. The other is co-evaporation technique. CZTS films were grown on Si (100) by vacuum co-evaporation using elemental Cu, Sn, S and binary ZnS as sources. XRD patterns indicated that the polycrystalline growth was suppressed and the orientational growth was relatively induced in a film grown at higher temperatures. In this presentation, the development of CZTS-based thin film solar cells will be surveyed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.