Nur Irwany Ahmad
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Nur Irwany Ahmad
Official Name
Ahmad, Nur Irwany
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Ahmad, Nur Irwany
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Scopus Author ID
57200991933

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Effect of Cuâ‚‚Te Back Surface Interfacial Layer on Cadmium Telluride Thin Film Solar Cell Performance from Numerical Analysis

2023-05-01 , Harif M.N. , Doroody C. , Nadzri A. , Nisham Rosly H. , Nur Irwany Ahmad , Isah M. , Amin N.

Even though substantial advances made in the device configuration of the frontal layers of the superstrate cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cell device have contributed to conversion efficiency, unresolved challenges remain in regard to controlling the self-compensation and minority carrier recombination at the back contact that limits the efficiency. In this study, a SCAPS-1D simulator was used to analyze the loss mechanism and performance limitations due to the band-bending effect upon copper chloride treatment and subsequent Cu2Te layer formation as the back contact buffer layer. The optimal energy bandgap range for the proposed back surface layer of Cu2Te is derived to be in the range of 1.1 eV to 1.3 eV for the maximum conversion efficiency, i.e., around 21.3%. Moreover, the impacts of absorber layer’s carrier concentration with respect to CdTe film thickness, bandgap, and operational temperature are analyzed. The optimized design reveals that the acceptor concentration contributes significantly to the performance of the CdTe devices, including spectral response. Consequently, the optimized thickness of the CdTe absorber layer with a Cu-based back contact is found to be 2.5 µm. Moreover, the effect of temperature ranging from 30 °C to 100 °C as the operating condition of the CdTe thin-film solar cells is addressed, which demonstrates an increasing recombination tread once the device temperature exceeds 60 °C, thus affecting the stability of the solar cells.

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A comprehensive review of flexible cadmium telluride solar cells with back surface field layer

2023-11-01 , Nur Irwany Ahmad , Kar Y.B. , Doroody C. , Kiong T.S. , Rahman K.S. , Harif M.N. , Amin N.

Recent advancements in CdTe solar cell technology have introduced the integration of flexible substrates, providing lightweight and adaptable energy solutions for various applications. Some of the notable applications of flexible solar photovoltaic technology include building integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV), transportation, aerospace, satellites, etc. However, despite this advancement, certain issues regarding metal and p-CdTe remained unresolved. Besides, the fabrication of a full-working device on flexible glass is challenging and requires special consideration due to the unstable morphology and structural properties of deposited film on ultra-thin glass substrates. The existing gap in knowledge about the vast potential of flexible CdTe solar cells on UTG substrates and their possible applications blocks their full capacity utilization. Hence, this comprehensive review paper exclusively concentrates on the obstacles associated with the implementation of CdTe solar cells on UTG substrates with a potential back surface field (BSF) layer. The significance of this study lies in its meticulous identification and analysis of the substantial challenges associated with integrating flexible CdTe onto UTG substrates and leveraging Cu-doped ZnTe as a potential BSF layer to enhance the performance of flexible CdTe solar cells.

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Copper doping effect in the back surface field layer of CdTe thin film solar cells

2024-02-01 , Nur Irwany Ahmad , Kiong T.S. , Doroody C. , Rahman K.S. , Kar Y.B. , Mohd Natashah Norizan , Mohd Fairus Ahmad , Harif M.N. , Amin N.

In this work, the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS-1D) is employed to evaluate the characteristics of CdTe thin films with ZnTe as the Back Surface Field (BSF) layer and estimate the effective copper doping ratio at both the atomic scale and the device operational response perspective. The electrical characteristics of ZnTe, at varying levels of copper doping, were derived using density functional theory (DFT) by applying the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and Hubbard U corrections (DFT+U). The performance of ZnTe with different Cu concentrations as a BSF layer was evaluated by analysing the values of four key parameters that are open circuit voltage (VOC), short circuit current density (JSC), fill factor (FF), and conversion efficiency (η). The results indicate that an increase in Cu concentration from 0% to 3%, 6%, 10%, and 12% resulted in a reduction of the energy band gap. Specifically, the energy band gap decreased from 2.24 eV to 2.10 eV, 1.98 eV, 1.92 eV, and 1.88 eV, respectively. Optimal Cu doping promotes the favourable shift in the valence band maxima (VBM) and formation of p + -ZnTe, lowering thermionic emission and improving carrier lifetime, which results in an improved ohmic contact, η = 18.73% for 10% of Cu content. Excessive doping in contrast degraded the overall device performance by forming an unmatched carrier band offset at the front interface with CdS, increasing the acceptor type defect and CdTe compensation rate. Overall, the findings suggest that incorporating a controlled level of Cu, which in this case is around 10%, promotes the efficiency and stability of the proposed CdTe device configuration to a certain extent.

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