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An Extended Approach on Power Conversion Efficiency Enhancement Through Deposition of ZnS-Al2S3 Blends on Silicon Solar Cells

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Abstract

Transparent zinc sulfide (ZnS)-aluminium sulfide (Al2S3) composite thin-films are deposited on silicon solar cells through radio frequency (RF) sputtering method at room temperature to investigate the structural, optical, electrical, and thermal characteristics. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals the presence of the powder sample (ZnS-Al2S3) and its average crystallite size is 15.83 nm. The minimum electrical resistivity (ρ), maximum hall mobility (μ), and carrier concentration (N) of ZnS-Al2S3 nano-layer coated solar cells are measured to be 2.98 × 10−3 Ω cm, 14.89 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 24.88 × 1020 cm−3 respectively. For a time period of 25 min, ZnS-Al2S3 nano-layer sputter coating produces the maximum power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 19.38% and 21%, obtained at open and controlled atmospheric conditions, respectively. The influence of operating temperature at both these open and controlled atmospheric conditions for ZnS-Al2S3 nano-layer coated silicon solar cells is observed. The ZnS-Al2S3 composite demonstrates the properties of a desirable anti-reflection coating material for enhancing the PCE of solar cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Tamil Nadu, 638060, India

    Gobinath Velu Kaliyannan, Senthil Velmurugan Palanisamy, Rajasekar Rathanasamy & Santhosh Sivaraj

  2. Department of Chemistry, Bharathiar University Arts and Science College, Modakurichi, Tamil Nadu, 638104, India

    Manivasakan Palanisamy

  3. Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Tamil Nadu, 638060, India

    Nithyavathy Nagarajan

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Perundurai, Tamil Nadu, 638060, India

    Manju Sri Anbupalani

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  1. Gobinath Velu Kaliyannan
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  2. Senthil Velmurugan Palanisamy
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  3. Rajasekar Rathanasamy
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  4. Manivasakan Palanisamy
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Velu Kaliyannan, G., Palanisamy, S.V., Rathanasamy, R. et al. An Extended Approach on Power Conversion Efficiency Enhancement Through Deposition of ZnS-Al2S3 Blends on Silicon Solar Cells. J. Electron. Mater. 49, 5937–5946 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-020-08361-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-020-08361-x

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