Drift and diffusion component studies in cdte structure for photovoltaic application

Abstract

A photovoltaic cell is designed to convert sunlight into electrical energy through the photoelectric effect. Solar cells are the most attractive source to harness solar energy; it is not only has high efficiency, but also protect our environment from pollution and producing zero greenhouse effect. There have been numerous studies on cadmium telluride (CdTe) compound in solar cell research. These studies have shown that CdTe can provide a good efficiency and yet be cost effective. This paper presents the investigation of cadmium telluride solar cells structure by using MATLAB software. Some important parameters such as drift component, diffusion component, thickness, and the efficiency of the cadmium telluride layer were investigated. The study concludes that in order to achieve an efficiency of 28-30%, the thickness of the CdTe layer, the uncompensated acceptor concentration and carrier lifetime should be ≥12μm, ≥1016cm-3 and ≥ 10-11s respectively.