https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-02804-6
Regular Article
Analysis and performance assessment of CuSbS2-based thin-film solar cells with different buffer layers
1
Department of Physics, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran
2
Faculty of Chemistry, Razi University, 6714414971, Kermanshah, Iran
3
Chemistry Department, College of Science, University of Raparin, Rania, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Received:
13
February
2022
Accepted:
5
May
2022
Published online:
13
May
2022
Due to its high absorption coefficient, CuSbS2 material is a great candidate for future thin-film solar cells. The device structure under consideration consists of back contact/CuSbS2/buffer /i-ZnO/ZnO: Al/contact as the constituent material layers. Experimental data has been used to develop a device model using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS). The simulated results were validated and compared with experimental results. The CuSbS2 solar cells with different buffer layers, including CdS, In2S3, ZnS, and ZnSe, were studied. Further, the impact of various material parameters such as bulk defect density, carrier concentration, and thickness of absorber CuSbS2 layer and defect density in the CuSbS2/buffer interface is discussed in correlation with the photovoltaic performance of the considered devices. The optimal solar cell structure configuration, for the CuSbS2 absorber solar cell, suggested a bulk defect density in the CuSbS2 absorber layer less than around 1 × 1013 cm−3, a defect density in the absorber/buffer interface less than 1 × 1012 cm−2, acceptor concentration in the CuSbS2 absorber layer of 2 × 1016 cm−3 for CdS, ZnS, and ZnSe buffer layers and 6 × 1016 cm−3 for In2S3 buffer layer and absorber layer of about 600 nm.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022
