Development of thin film solar cell based on Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films

Cu2ZnSnS4 (hereafter CZTS) thin films were successfully formed by vapor-phase sulfurization of precursors on a soda lime glass substrate thereafter SLG) and a Mo-coated one (hereafter Mo-SLG). From the optical properties. we estimate the band-gap energy of this thin film as 1.45-1.6 eV which is quite close to the optimum value for a solar cell. By using this thin film as an absorber layer, we could fabricate a new type of thin film solar cell, which was composed of Al/ZnO:AI/CdS/CZTS/Mo-SLG. The best conversion efficiency achieved in our study was 2.67% and the highest open-circuit voltage was 735 mV. These device results are the best reported so far for CZTS. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.