• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.225-230
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• 2011

CIGS solar cells are kind of thin film solar cells, which are studied several years. CdS buffer layer that makes heterojunction between window layer and absorbing layer was one of issue in the CIGS solar cell study. New types of buffer layer consisted of indium sulfide are being studied these days owing to high price and environmental harmful of CdS. In this study, we demonstrated electrochemical synthesis of indium sulfide film as a buffer layer, which is cheaper and faster than other methods. A uniform indium sulfide film was obtained by applying two different alternating potentials. The band gap of the film was optimized by controlling temperature during the electrochemical synthesis. Using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and diffraction method we confirmed that ${\beta}$-indium sulfide was formed on ITO electrode surface.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.149-151
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• 2006

Cu계 $I-III-VI_2$화합물은 직접천이형 반도체로 광흡수계수가 매우 높아 박막형 태양전지 제조에 매우 유리하다. 또한 화학적으로 안정하며 Ga, Al 등을 첨가하면 에너지 금지대폭을 조절할 수 있어 Wide Bandgap 태양전지 및 탠덤구조 태양전지를 제조하기에도 용이하다 $CulnSe_2(CIS)$ 물질에서 In을 20-30% 정도 치환한 $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2(CIGS)$ 태양전지의 경우 19.5%의 세계 최고 효율을 보고하고 있으며 이는 다결정 실리콘 태양전지의 효율과 비슷한 수준이다. 본 연구에서는 동시 진공증발법을 이용하여 증착한 CIGS 박막을 이용하여 태양전지를 제조하였다. 공정의 재현성 및 결정립계가 큰 광흡수층 제조를 위하여 실시간 기판온도 모니터링 시스템을 도입하였으며 버퍼충으로는 용액성장한 CdS 박막을 사용하였다. SLG/MO/CIGS(CGS)/CdS/ZnO/Al 구조의 태양전지를 제조하여 면적 $0.5cm^2$에서 각각 17.5%의 효율을 얻었다.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.328-333
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• 2011

The influence of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films degraded under high temperature and damp heat on the performance deterioration of Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ (CIGS) solar cells was investigated. CIGS solar cells with AZO/CdS/CIGS/Mo structure were prepared on glass substrate and exposed to high temperature ($85^{\circ}C$) and damp heat ($85^{\circ}C$/85% RH) for 1000 h. As-prepared CIGS solar cells had 64.91% in fill factor (FF) and 12.04% in conversion efficiency. After exposed to high temperature, CIGS solar cell had 59.14% in FF and 9.78% in efficiency, while after exposed to damp heat, it had 54.00% in FF and 8.78% in efficiency. AZO thin films in the deteriorated CIGS solar cells showed increases in resistivity up to 3.1 times and 4.4 times compared to their initial resistivity after 1000 h of high temperature and damp heat exposure, respectively. These results can be explained by the decreases in carrier concentration and mobility due to diffusion or adsorption of oxygen and moisture in AZO thin films. It can be inferred that decreases in FF and conversion efficiency were caused by an increase in series resistance, which resulted from an increase in resistivity of AZO thin films degraded under high temperature and damp heat.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.259-273
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• 2012

Chalcogenide-based semiconductors, such as $CuInSe_2$, $CuGaSe_2$, Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ (CIGS), and CdTe have attracted considerable interest as efficient materials in thin film solar cells (TFSCs). Currently, CIGS and CdTe TFSCs have demonstrated the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 11% in module production. However, commercialized CIGS and CdTe TFSCs have some limitations due to the scarcity of In, Ga, and Te and the environmental issues associated with Cd and Se. Recently, kesterite CZTS, which is one of the In- and Ga- free absorber materials, has been attracted considerable attention as a new candidate for use as an absorber material in thin film solar cells. The CZTS-based absorber material has outstanding characteristics such as band gap energy of 1.0 eV to 1.5 eV, high absorption coefficient on the order of $10^4cm^{-1}$, and high theoretical conversion efficiency of 32.2% in thin film solar cells. Despite these promising characteristics, research into CZTS-based thin film solar cells is still incomprehensive and related reports are quite few compared to those for CIGS thin film solar cells, which show high efficiency of over 20%. The recent development of kesterite-based CZTS thin film solar cells is summarized in this work. The new challenges for enhanced performance in CZTS thin films are examined and prospective issues are addressed as well.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 2003

This study puts focus on the optimization of growth temperature of CIGS absorber layer which affects severely the performance of solar cells. The CIGS absorber layers were prepared by three-stage co-evaporation of metal elements in the order of In-Ga-Se. The effect of the growth temperature of 1st stage was found not to be so important, and 350$^{\circ}C$ to be the lowest optimum temperature. In the case of growth temperature at 2nd/3rd stage, the optimum temperature was revealed to be 550$^{\circ}C$. The XRD results of CIGS films showed a strong (112) preferred orientation and the Raman spectra of CIGS films showed only the Al mode peak at 173cm$\^$-1/. Scanning electron microscopy results revealed very small grains at 2nd/3rd stage growth temperature of 480$^{\circ}C$. At higher temperatures, the grain size increased together with a reduction in the number of the voids. The optimization of experimental parameters above mentioned, through the repeated fabrication and characterization of unit layers and devices, led to the highest conversion efficiency of 15.4% from CIGS-based thin film solar cell with a structure of Al/ZnO/CdS/CIGS/Mo/glass.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.107-112
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• 2013

Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ (CIGS) thin films were annealed on molybdenium/sodalime glass substrates of $300{\times}300mm^2$ by rapid thermal processing (RTP) with 2-step rising-temperature times in $N_2$ ambient. Morphological property, structural characteristics and chemical composition of the precursor of CIGS thin films were influenced directly with a change of $1^{st}$-step rising-temperature time in RTP whereas there is no significant difference with the different $2^{nd}$-step rising-temperature time (final crystallization temperature). The shorter $1^{st}$-step rising-temperature time in RTP obtained the higher photovoltaic cell efficiency from 7.469% to 8.479% even though the ideal composition in CIGS thin films could not be accoplished in this study.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.383-386
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• 2002

Polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se$_2$(CIGS) thin-films were grown by co-evaporation on a soda lime glass substrate. In this paper the effects of the Se evaporation temperature on the properties of CuIn0.75Ga0.25Se2 (CIGS) thin films. Structure, surface morphology and optical properties of CIGS thin films deposited at various Se evaporation temperatures have been investigated using a number of analysis techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that CIGS films exhibit a strong <112> preferred orientation. As expected, at higher Se evaporation temperatures the films displayed a lower degree of crystallinity. The <112> peak was also enhanced and other CIGS peaks appeared simultaneously. These results were supported by experimental work using scanning electron microscopy When the Se evaporation temperature was increased, the average grain size also decreased together with a reduction Cu content. The Se evaporation temperature also had a significant inf1uence on the transmission spectra. Increasing the Se evaporation temperature, the cell efficiency was improved dramatically to 11.75% with Voc = 556 mV, Jsc = 32.17 mA/cm2 and FF = 0.66. The Se evaporation temperature is an important parameter in thin film deposition regardless of the deposition technique being used to deposit thin films

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.432-438
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• 2011

In this study, chemical bath deposited (CBD) indium sulfide buffer layers were investigated as a possible substitution for the cadmium sulfide buffer layer in CIGS thin film solar cells. The performance of the $In_2S_3$/CIGS solar cell dramatically improved when the films were annealed at $300^{\circ}C$ in inert gas after the buffer layer was grown on the CIGS film. The thickness of the indium sulfide buffer layer was 80 nm, but decreased to 60 nm after annealing. From the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy it was found that the chemical composition of the layer changed to indium oxide and indium sulfide from the as-deposited indium hydroxide and sulfate states. Furthermore, the overall atomic concentration of the oxygen in the buffer layer decreased because deoxidation occurred during annealing. In addition, an In-thin layer was inserted between the indium sulfide buffer and CIGS in order to modify the $In_2S_3$/CIGS interface. The $In_2S_3$/CIGS solar cell with the In interlayer showed improved photovoltaic properties in the $J_{sc}$ and FF values. Furthermore, the $In_2S_3$/CIGS solar cells showed higher quantum efficiency in the short wavelength region. However, the quantum efficiency in the long wavelength region was still poor due to the thick buffer layer.

• Current Photovoltaic Research
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.115-119
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• 2014

$Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$ (CIGS) thin films have been used as a light absorbing layer in high-efficiency solar cells. In order to improve the quality of the CIGS thin film, often selenization step is applied. Especially when the thin film was formed by non-vacuum powder process, selenization can help to induce grain growth of powder and densification of the thin film. However, selenization is not trivial. It requires either the use of toxic gas, $H_2Se$, or expensive equipment which raises the overall manufacturing cost. Herein, we would like to deliver a new, simple method for selenization. In this method, instead of using a costly two-zone furnace, use of a regular tube furnace is required and selenium is supplied by a mixture of selenium and ceramic powder such as alumina. By adjusting the ratio of selenium vs. alumina powder, selenium vaporization can be carefully controlled. Under the optimized condition, steady supply of selenium vapor was possible which was evidently shown by large grain growth of CIGS within a thin powder layer.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2018

Solar panels are modules made up of many cells, like the N-type monosilicon, P-type monosilicon, P-type multisilicon, amorphous thin-film silicon, and CIGS solar cells. An efficient photovoltaic (PV) power is important to use to determine what kind of cell types are used because residential solar systems receive attention. In this study, we used 3-type solar panels - such as N-type monosilicon, P-type monosilicon, and CIGS solar cells - to investigate what kind of solar panel on a house or building performs the best. PV systems were composed of 3-type solar panels on the roof with each ~1.8 kW nominal power. N-type monosilicon solar panel resulted in the best power generation when monitored. Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF) and Performance Ratio (PR) of the N-type Si solar panel were 14.6% and 75% respectively. In comparison, N-type monosilicon and CIGS solar panels showed higher performance in power generation than P-type monosilicon solar power with increasing solar irradiance.