Simulation and optimization of

parameters of CIGS Solar cell

Under the able guidance of Dr. Rinku Sharma

Presented by
Deepak Kumar Baghel
2K13/NST/08
 Introduction

Copper indium gallium (di) selenide (CIGS) is an I-III-VI semiconductor

material composed of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium.
The material is a solid solution of copper indium selenide (often
abbreviated "CIS") and copper gallium selenide.
It has a chemical formula of CuIn(1-x)GaxSe2.
value of x can vary from 0 (pure copper indium selenide) to 1 (pure
copper gallium selenide).
band gap varying continuously with x from about 1.0 eV (for copper
indium selenide) to about 1.7 eV (for copper gallium selenide).
 Device Structure

Soda lime glass is commonly used as a substrate.

A molybdenum layer is deposited which
serves as the back contact.
p-type CIGS absorber layer is grown .
thin n-type buffer layer of CdS is deposited.
Depositing the Al:Zno window layer serves as a
transparent conducting oxide to collect and move
electrons out of the cell while absorbing as little
light as possible.
 Objectives

Simulating the performance of CIGS solar cell by

(1) Changing Electronic properties
(a) Effect of doping profile on band gap of CIGS [Cu In(1-X) Ga(X) Se2 ].
(b) Optimization of Band gap /wavelength by measuring
(i) Spectral Response of Current for different X composition and optical
wavelength.
(ii) I-V curve for different X composition.
(iii) Output power for different X-composition
(c) Optimization of doping concentration of CIGS material- by measuring
(i) Power-Voltage curve for different doping concentrations.
(ii) I-V curve for different doping concentrations.
(iii) Spectral Response of Current for different doping concentrations
Simulating the performance of CIGS solar cell
by

(2) Changing transport properties:-

(a) Current density (i) with varying thickness of Buffer layer (CdS)
(ii) With varying thickness of absorber layer (CIGS)
(b) Cell efficiency (i) with varying thickness of Buffer layer (CdS)
(ii) With varying thickness of absorber layer (CIGS)
Finding Optimum thickness of CIGS and CdS layer.
(c) I-V characteristics
(d) P-V characteristics
 Simulation Result and discussion

We are using two different simulation software named as PC1D and AFORS-HET.
(1) Effect of doping profile on band gap of CIGS [Cu In(1-X) Ga(X) Se2 ]
As seen from the graph the band gap of
CIGS material increases with the X composition
i.e. with increasing concentration of Ga.
Optimization of Band gap /wavelength

(i) Spectral Response of Current for different X composition and optical

wavelength
Increasing Band-Gap significantly
reduces conversion efficiency at longer
wavelengths, reducing current output.
Optimization of Band gap /wavelength

(ii) I-V curve for different X composition

As the Value of X increases Output
Current is significantly reduced,
but Output Voltage increases.
Optimization of Band gap /wavelength

(iii) Output power for different X-composition

As seen from the graph Output
Power is increased dramatically
using Larger Band-Gaps i.e.
larger X composition.
Optimum value of Band gap for
Max power output at X=0.66 is
Eg = 1.5218 eV
 Optimization of doping concentration
of CIGS material
(i) Spectral Response of Current for different doping concentrations
Higher Doping Increases Yield at Shorter
Wavelengths but Reduces Yield at
Longer Wavelengths
 Optimization of doping concentration
of CIGS material
(ii) I-V curve for different doping concentrations
As seen from the graph Current
decreases and Voc increases with
increasing doping concentration
of CIGS material.
 Optimization of doping concentration
of CIGS material
(iii) Power-Voltage curve for different doping concentrations
There is a maximum power advantage
if CIGS Effective Doping could be
increased to around 1e17/cm3.

Maximum Power Output obtained

at approximately 1e17/cm3
concentration of CIGS.
 Changing transport properties

(a) Current density (i) with varying thickness of Buffer layer (CdS)
The thickness of the CdS buffer layer
was varied from 10 nm to 100 nm in this
simulation. When the CdS buffer layer
thickness increase, a large number of short
wavelength photons are absorbed in this
layer before reaching the absorber
layer. This lead to a decrease in the
photons which have reached the absorber
layer.
 Current density with varying thickness of
absorption layer (CIGS)

The thickness of the CIGS absorber layer was varied from 1 m to 4 m. We

note that if width increases, only the short circuit current Jsc increases since
the absorption increases.
 Cell efficiency with varying thickness
of Buffer layer (CdS)
The thickness of the CdS buffer layer was varied from 10 nm to 100 nm in this
simulation. When the CdS buffer layer thickness increase, a large number of short
wavelength photons are absorbed in this layer before reaching the absorber layer. This
lead to a decrease in the photons which have reached the absorber layer. Moreover, the
minority carriers of the CdS buffer layer (holes) have a lower mobility compared to that
of CIGS absorber layer (electrons), Hence the decrease in the cell performance.
 Cell efficiency with varying thickness
of Absorption layer (CIGS)
The thickness of the CIGS absorber layer was varied from 1 m to 4 m. We
note that if wp increases, only the short-circuit current Jsc increases since
the absorption increases. But, Voc and FF are almost not affected by
thickness.
 Optimized thickness of CdS and CIGS
layer
As a result from simulation it has been observed that current density
and efficiency of solar cell decreases with increasing thickness of CdS
buffer layer. Optimum value of CdS layer should be as low as possible
and is = 10nm.
Consequently, the optimum thickness for CIGS absorber layer would
be around to 3 m, a value from which the efficiency and current
density has no significant increase.
 Optimized device parameters
Layer properties CdS CIGS General device Front Back
properties

Layer thickness w(nm), base 10 3000

parameter
Affinity, (eV) 4.4 4.5 Surface recombination 107 107
properties, Se (cm.s-1)
Relative permittivity, r 10 13.6
Electron mobility, n (cm2/V.s) 100 100
Hole mobility, P (cm2/V.s) 25 25
Acceptor or Donor ND :1017 NA :11016
concentration (cm-3)
band gap Energy Eg (eV), base 2.42 1.5218 Surface recombination 107 107
parameter properties, Sh (cm.s-1)

Effective density of states, NC 2.21018 2.21018

(cm-3)
Effective density of states, NV 1.81019 1.81019
(cm-3)
Reflectivity, R 0.05 0
Acceptor or Donor defect NAG :1018 NDG :1014
density (cm-3)
I-V characteristics

Parameters
Isc = -3.183 Amps
Voc =0.5920 Volts
P-V characteristics

Max output Power Pmax = 1.361 Watts

 Conclusion and Future Work

In this work From the simulation results it is found that the increases of the
buffer layer thickness only reduce the cell performance.
In contrast, the optimum thickness of the absorber layer is around 3 m from
which the efficiency has not increased sign
On the other hand, the increase of the absorber bandgap reduces the optical
absorption, result in reduction of the photocurrent density, while the open
circuit voltage increases.
The compromise between these two phenomena is that a band gap of 1.5218
eV is the optimum value to obtain a high efficiency of about 25%.
 References

[1] Huang CH. Effects of Ga content on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells studied by

numerical modeling studied by numerical modeling.
[2] Ullal H S, Zweibel K, Roedern B V. Current status of polycrystalline thin-
film PV technologies. Proceedings of the 26th IEEE Specialists Conference
IEEE. New York; 1997, p. 301.
[3] Analytical modeling and simulation of CIGS solar cells A. Benmira*, M. S.
Aidab
[4] Simulation analysis of the CIGS based thin film solar cellsHossein Movlaa,,
Eghbal Abdib, Davoud SalamicaAzar.
[5] S.R. Kodigala, Thin Films and Nanostructures: Cu (In1xGax)Se2based Thin
FilmCells, Academic Press, Oxford, 2010.