Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Thin Film Solar Cells with Solution Processed Metal Nanowire Based Transparent Conductor

Abstract

Since the traditional sputtered metal oxide thin films are not suited for using as transparent electrodes of flexible thin film solar cells and their increasing prices limit development of solar cells industry, high performance, low cost and flexible transparent conductor technology has aroused researchers’ great interests. In this paper, we successfully apply a solution processed silver nanowire composite film as the transparent electrode for Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cells with ZnS buffer layers. Compared with traditional sputtered window layer, the solution processed transparent electrode causes no physical damage to the adjacent device layers and junction region, which can greatly decrease the required thickness of the ZnS buffer layer. Properties of the silver nanowire composite transparent conductor and its effects on performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se2/ZnS thin film solar cells are studied.