The eta-solar cell with CuInS2:: A photovoltaic cell concept using an extremely thin absorber (eta)

Diffusion length of charge carriers within the absorbing material is one of the important restricting properties for the efficiency of solar cell devices. A new cell design using an extremely thin absorber (eta-solar cell) is prepared to obtain an effective separation of charge carriers within the depletion layer. Tt could be figured out that the properties of CuInS2 (CIS) strongly depend on the porosity of the base layer. Multiple scattering within the porous structure is evident. Moreover, it can be demonstrated that there is a maximum in short-circuit current density for a medium thickness of the absorbing layer. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.