Performance of V2O5 hole selective layer in CdS/CdTe heterostructure solar cell

Abstract

the five CdS/CdTe heterostructure solar cells were synthesized by using multiple fabrication methods. The structural, optical and electrical characteristics were measured to understand the role of AZO, ZTO, and V2O5 layers in the solar cell operation. The performance of the ZTO, AZO (ETL) as a transparent electrode and V2O5 holes transport layer (HTL) was investigated in the CdS/CdTe solar cell. AZO, ZTO and vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) has shown an efficient role to serve as a charge selective layer in the heterostructure solar cell. XRD pattern revealed that all thin-film HSSCs exhibit crystalline nature with their characteristic phases and growth. Top and cross-sectional FESEM images were captured to observe the morphology and the thickness of AZO, ZTO, CdS, CdTe, and V2O5 thin films. It was observed that V2O5 equipped solar cell offers better performance and high efficiency due to their larger open-circuit voltage. The value of current increases 7.50–10.75 mA with the insertion of the V2O5 layer between CdTe and back surface contact. The conductive AZO and ZTO layer shows high transmittance (above 90%), resulting in the maximum amount of light refracts towards the CdTe absorber layer. The combination of TCO (AZO/ZTO) and HTL V2O5 layer in the CdS/CdTe solar cell promote high efficiency and large open-circuit voltage.