Simulation of double buffer layer on CIGS solar cell with SCAPS software

Abstract

In a CIGS thin film solar cell, the buffer layer is interposed between the absorber layer and the window layer, which plays an important role in interface electricity. CdS is often used as a buffer layer in CIGS cells. Beside the toxicity of Cd, the main drawback of CdS is its relatively narrow band gap (2.4 eV), which can lead to the current loss due to parasitic absorption. In order to reduce the use of CdS, we try other buffer layers instead of CdS and optimize buffer layer structure. Numerical simulation has been used to explore the effect of different buffer layer materials (CdS and ZnSe) on the performance of CuInGaSe2 solar cells with SCAPS-1D software. The main photovoltaic parameters of the analog device: open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, fill factor and conversion efficiency (η) were compared and analyzed. The results show that different buffer materials and thickness have great influence on the performance of the cell. In this simulation, CdS buffer layer was replaced by ZnSe material, which has a wider band gap. However, the efficiency of this kind of cell is lower than that of CIGS device with CdS buffer layer because of the bad energy band alignment. In order to improve the short-wave absorption and the efficiency of CIGS cell, we simulated a novel CdS/ZnSe double buffer layer structure. The efficiency of the optimized cell with double buffer layer increases from 18.47% (conventional cell with the same CdS buffer layer thickness) to 19.01%.