Abstract:
In this paper, we propose a potential high efficiency
Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4/
CdS (
CZTS) solar cell design based on graded band-gap engineering that can offer the benefits of improved absorption behavior and reduced recombination effects. Moreover, a new hybrid approach based on analytical modeling and Particle Swarm Optimization (
PSO) is proposed to determinate the optimal band-gap profile of the amended
CZTS absorber layer to achieve further efficiency enhancement. It is found that the proposed design exhibits superior performance, where a high efficiency of
16.9% is recorded for the optimized solar cell with a relative improvement of
92%, compared with the reference cell efficiency of 8.8%. Likewise, the optimized
CZTS solar cell with a graded band-gap enables achieving a higher open circuit voltage of 889 mV, a short-circuit current of 28.5 mA and a fill factor of
66%. Therefore, the optimized
CZTS-based solar cell with graded-band gap paradigm pinpoints a new path toward recording high-efficiency thin-film solar cells through enhancing carrier collection and reducing the recombination rate.Publisher's Version
