Improving the performance of Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells by optimizing energy levels in the conduction band and reducing optical losses in the buffer layer

Iman Gharibshahian¹ Ali A. Orouji²

1) Semnan University Email:
2) Semnan University Email:

IOI Code : XEEZ-HCEZZ
Publication : The First Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Smart Computing(aisc2022.semnan.ac.ir)
Abstract :
    In this paper, the effect of adding sulfur to the absorber layer on antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) solar cells is investigated. The performance of Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells is also evaluated by proposing a substitute buffer layer of zinc oxysulfide (ZnO1-ySy) with a wider bandgap than the conventional cadmium sulfide (CdS) buffer layer. The results show that the use of ZnO1-ySy buffer layer reduces optical losses and improves short circuit current. On the other hand, the optimization of the energy band in the proposed solar cell through the ZnO1-ySy layer reduces the recombination at the absorber/buffer junction and improves the open-circuit voltage. By adding sulfur to the Sb2Se3 absorber and forming Sb2(SexS1-x)3 material, solar cell’s efficiency was evaluated at different selenium mole fractions. This study shows that the most suitable junction in the proposed Sb2(S1-xSex)3/ZnO1-ySy solar cell occurs when the selenium mole fraction in the Sb2(S,Se)3 absorber layer is in the range of 0.1 to 0.2 and the sulfur mole fraction in the Zn(O,S) buffer layer should be in the range of 0.5 to 0.6. By using the proposed method, the efficiency of 9.2% in the standard structure of Sb2Se3/CdS is increased to 15.65% in the proposed structure of Sb2(S,Se)3/Zn(O,S).

Keywords : sb2se3 thin film solar cells efficiency recombination