13.4% efficient thin-film CdS/CdTe solar cells

Cadmium telluride is a promising thin-film photovoltaic material as shown by the more than 10% efficient CdS/CdTe heterojunction solar cells. In this work, thin-film CdS/CdTe solar cells have been prepared using CdS films grown from an aqueous solution and p-CdTe films deposited by close-spaced sublimation (CSS). The properties of CdS films deposited from an ammonical solution of a Cd-salt, an ammonium salt, and thiourea have been controlled by optimizing the temperature and composition of the solution. The solution-grown CdS films have a high photoconductivity ratio, and its optical transmission is superior to that of vacuum evaporated CdS films. The properties of p-CdTe films deposited by CSS have been optimized by controlling the temperature and composition of the source material, and the substrate temperature. The properties of CdS/CdTe heterojunctions have been studied; junction photovoltage spectroscopy is used for the qualitative comparison of junction characteristics. Solar cells of 1-cm2 area with an AM 1.5 efficiency of 13.4% are reported.