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PEDOT:PSS as back contact for CdTe solar cells and the effect of PEDOT:PSS conductivity on device performance
Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics (2016)
  • Weining Wang
  • Naba Raj Paudel
  • Yanfa Yan
  • Fernanda Duarte
  • Michael Mount
Abstract
Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) was studied as the back contact of Cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells and was compared with conventional Cu-based back contact. A series of PEDOT:PSS aqueous solutions with different conductivities were spin coated onto the glass/SnO2:F/SnO2/CdS/CdTe structures as back contact, and the PEDOT:PSS conductivity dependence of device performance was studied. It was found that PEDOT:PSS back contact with higher conductivity produces devices with lower series resistance and higher shunt resistance, leading to higher fill factor and higher device efficiencies. As the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS increased from 0.03 to 0.24 S/cm, the efficiency of the solar cell increased from 2.7 to 5.1 %. Methanol cleaning also played an important role in increasing the device performance. The efficiency of our best device with PEDOT:PSS back contact has reached 9.1 %, approaching those with conventional Cu/Au back contact (12.5 %).
Keywords
  • Solar Cell,
  • Schottky Barrier,
  • Back Contact,
  • PEDOT Film,
  • High Work Function
Publication Date
February, 2016
Citation Information
Weining Wang, Naba Raj Paudel, Yanfa Yan, Fernanda Duarte, et al.. "PEDOT:PSS as back contact for CdTe solar cells and the effect of PEDOT:PSS conductivity on device performance" Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics Vol. 27 Iss. 2 (2016) p. 1057 - 1061 ISSN: 0957-4522 (Print) 1573-482X (Online)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/weining_wang/3/