Complex Investigation of High Efficiency and Reliable Heterojunction Solar Cell Based on an Improved Cu<sub>2</sub>O Absorber Layer
Laurentiu Fara,
Irinela Chilibon,
Ørnulf Nordseth,
Dan Craciunescu,
Dan Savastru,
Cristina Vasiliu,
Laurentiu Baschir,
Silvian Fara,
Raj Kumar,
Edouard Monakhov,
James P. Connolly
Affiliations
Laurentiu Fara
Department of Physics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Irinela Chilibon
National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics (INOE-2000), 077125 Bucharest, Romania
Ørnulf Nordseth
Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), P.O. Box 40, NO-2027 Kjeller, Norway
Dan Craciunescu
Department of Physics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Dan Savastru
National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics (INOE-2000), 077125 Bucharest, Romania
Cristina Vasiliu
National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics (INOE-2000), 077125 Bucharest, Romania
Laurentiu Baschir
National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics (INOE-2000), 077125 Bucharest, Romania
Silvian Fara
Department of Physics, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
Raj Kumar
Department of Physics/Center for Materials Science and Nanotechnology (SMN), University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway
Edouard Monakhov
Department of Physics/Center for Materials Science and Nanotechnology (SMN), University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway
James P. Connolly
GeePs (Group of electrical engineering—Paris), UMR CNRS 8507, CentraleSupélec, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Université, 11 rue Joliot-Curie, 91192 Plateau de Moulon, Gif-sur-Yvette CEDEX, France
This study is aimed at increasing the performance and reliability of silicon-based heterojunction solar cells with advanced methods. This is achieved by a numerical electro-optical modeling and reliability analysis for such solar cells correlated with experimental analysis of the Cu2O absorber layer. It yields the optimization of a silicon tandem heterojunction solar cell based on a ZnO/Cu2O subcell and a c-Si bottom subcell using electro-optical numerical modeling. The buffer layer affinity and mobility together with a low conduction band offset for the heterojunction are discussed, as well as spectral properties of the device model. Experimental research of N-doped Cu2O thin films was dedicated to two main activities: (1) fabrication of specific samples by DC magnetron sputtering and (2) detailed characterization of the analyzed samples. This last investigation was based on advanced techniques: morphological (scanning electron microscopy—SEM and atomic force microscopy—AFM), structural (X-ray diffraction—XRD), and optical (spectroscopic ellipsometry—SE and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy—FTIR). This approach qualified the heterojunction solar cell based on cuprous oxide with nitrogen as an attractive candidate for high-performance solar devices. A reliability analysis based on Weibull statistical distribution establishes the degradation degree and failure rate of the studied solar cells under stress and under standard conditions.
