Numerical Optimization of Materials Properties for High-Efficiency CISe Thin Film Solar Cells Using SCAPS-1D Simulator

The CuInSe2/CuInGaSe2 (CISe/CIGSe) thin film solar cells (TFSC) are focused on photovoltaic technology due to their environmental prospects, device efficiency, and cost considerations. The high photovoltaic cell efficiency (PCE) and low fabrication cost are generally preferred in solar cells for industrialization. The precursor materials, deposition methods, growth conditions for semiconducting materials can impact solar cell performance. Therefore, scrutiny investigation on the latter parameters is required for getting high-quality solar cells. In this study, the novel hybrid deposition method is applied for CISe absorber layer synthesis to improve PCE and reduce the fabrication costs. And also, a SCAPS-1D simulator is employed to design and optimize the properties of the materials used in CISe TFSC. The main parameters such as thickness and carrier concentration of each layer used in CISe TFSC were analyzed and optimized for attaining as high PCE as possible. The optimized PCE for CISe TFSC through SCAPS-1D is 22.81%, which is slightly lower than the record PCE for CISe TFSC. Once the CISe TFSC solar cell is theoretically optimized, then the experimental parameters of CISe and CdS thin films were replaced in the optimized simulation and results were analyzed. The PCE of 19.35 % is observed for CISe TFSC after substituting experimental parameters of CISe and CdS thin films. The minor change in PCE of CISe after replacing experimental parameters is mainly due to the decrease in fill factor of the solar cell. Thus, a theoretical simulation can guide an idea for doing experimental work to prevent the waste of precursor materials and research time.