A numerical simulation of high efficiency CdS/CdTe based solar cell using NiO HTL and ZnO TCO

Abstract

Simulation of cadmium sulfide (CdS) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) based solar cell (ZnO/CdS/CdTe/NiO/Au) using Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator-1D (SCAPS-1D) has been presented in this article. Nickel oxide (NiO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) layers have been introduced as hole transport layer (HTL) and transparent conductive oxide (TCO), respectively. ZnO, CdS, and CdTe were synthesized using the facile chemical route, and their absorption coefficient was determined systematically. Later these experimentally found absorption coefficient data were used to study the effect of NiO HTL and ZnO TCO on the performance of CdS/CdTe based solar cell using SCAPS-1D. The impact of thickness, carrier concentration, defect density of the CdTe, and CdS/CdTe interface defect density on the solar cell performance was also investigated. The optimized solar cell demonstrated a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 28.04 % with open circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.09 V, short circuit current density (JSC) of 29.09 mA/cm2 and FF of 87.84 % that shows huge promise in low-cost solar energy harvesting.