Solar Cells

S. K. Sharma Khuram Ali

•

Editors

Solar Cells
From Materials to Device Technology

123
Editors
S. K. Sharma Khuram Ali
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science Department of Physics
and Technology University of Agriculture Faisalabad
The University of the West Indies Faisalabad, Pakistan
St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

ISBN 978-3-030-36353-6 ISBN 978-3-030-36354-3 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36354-3
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Preface I

Solar cell is designed to convert sunlight into electrical power using photovoltaic
properties. The advantage of a solar cell resides in a nearly permanent, uninter-
rupted power source at a minimal operating cost. Moreover, it has the ability to
convert sunlight directly into electricity instead of some intermediate form of
energy. A higher power to weight ratio is another advantage the solar cells have as
compared to other power sources such as batteries. On the other hand, the low
power to unit area of sunlight ratio (which necessitates using large area arrays), the
relatively low efficiency, and the degradation that takes place in hostile high-energy
radiation environments are some of their main disadvantages. The role played by
solar cells in a wide range of resource investigation, meteorological, broadcast,
communications, scientific, and space development research cannot be denied. It
can be rightly commented that without the development of solar cells, we would not
have the sophisticated weather, communications, military, and scientific satellite
capabilities that we have today. Increased life, improved conversion efficiency, and
reduced cost are the basic objectives for research and development of solar cell
materials.
Thin-film technology has been significantly improved since the last few years.
For sufficient absorption of the solar spectrum, it is required that the wafer thickness
should be >700 µm. It is not desirable for commercial or large-scale production of
solar cells because it is a large thickness for a Si wafer in terms of cost and effective
collection of photo-generated carriers. This type of solar cell is generally made by
depositing one or more thin films, on a glass, plastic, or metal substrates. Initially,
wafers of up to 200 µm thickness were used to fabricate silicon-based thin-film
solar cells. This technique allows thin-film cells to be flexible and lower in weight.
However, it is also mandatory to have a general understanding of the problems that
appear when the thickness of a silicon wafer is decreased. Incorporating quantum
dots is an updated approach to harness solar cells. Efficiency of thin-film-based
solar cells has been remarkably increased with the addition of quantum dots. They
have properties of band gap tunability, which makes them suitable for multijunction
solar cells. Quantum dots have energy levels that are tunable by altering their size.
These tunable energy levels, in turn, determine the band gap. Quantum dots in

v
vi Preface I

semiconductors are nowadays a subject of great importance primarily due to their

electronic structures and tunable optoelectronic characteristics. In addition, band
gaps for single-junction solar cells using lead sulfide (PbS) colloidal quantum dots
(CQD) can be fabricated which can operate on far infrared frequencies. Such
configuration is difficult to achieve with conventional solar cells. Currently,
quantum dot-based nanostructures have been primarily restricted to lasers, sensors,
and LEDs, etc. However, the blue shift in the band gap energy and the
size-dependent increase in oscillator strength are the characteristics that can be used
for promoting better photovoltaic devices as compared to traditional photovoltaics.
Solar cells with multiple stacked p–n junctions are made with multiple layered
semiconducting materials from III–V compound semiconductors. These types of
III–V cells have the highest conversion efficiency under concentrated sunlight.
Since their evolution, the multijunctions solar cells have achieved great attention in
the photovoltaic industry due to broad choice of materials with direct band gaps and
high absorption coefficients. However, manufacturing price and process complex-
ities are also involved with the high efficiencies gained in III–V multijunction solar
cells.
Recently, organic–inorganic hybrid solar cells have gained a rapid improvement
in their performance. Their overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) has exceeded
20% because of high charge carrier mobility, efficient light harvesting, and long
carrier lifetime. A perovskite absorption layer is sandwiched between a hole contact
layer and an electron contact layer in a typical planar heterojunction perovskite
solar cell. Irrespective of the compatibility of low-temperature sputtered NiOx films
with flexible devices, their low PCE (below 10%) makes them unappealing to the
research community. Therefore, for flexible perovskite solar cells, it is very pur-
poseful to explore low-temperature processed NiOx films with effective hole
extraction capabilities. It is observed that on an ITO glass substrate, a
solution-derived NiOx hole contact layer-based inverted planar heterojunction
perovskite solar cell can gain a PCE of as high as 16.47%. Before this technology is
fully accepted in the market, many hurdles need to be overcome. At this time,
organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are applicable only in limited markets that require
lightweight, flexibility, stability, and variable angle performance. The continuous
development of OPV with the improvement in their light harvesting ability and the
management of active layer materials will occasion widely applicable technologies
for electrical generation.

St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago S. K. Sharma

Faisalabad, Pakistan Khuram Ali
Preface II

Reducing the cost and increasing the conversion efficiency are the crucial tasks in
order to make solar cell energy competitive. Though important progress has been
made in recent years, a complete auxiliary of traditional energy sources by solar
cells still requires improvement in device performance.
This book is devoted to the rapidly developing class of solar cell materials and
designed to provide much needed information on the fundamental scientific prin-
ciples of these materials, together with how these are employed in photovoltaic
applications.
Moreover, a special emphasize has been given for their space applications by
thorough study of radiation-tolerant solar cells. This book will present compre-
hensive research outlining progress on the synthesis, fabrication, and application of
solar cell materials from fundamental to device technology.

St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago S. K. Sharma

vii
Contents

Synthesis and Processing of Nanomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Muhammad Yasin Naz, Shazia Shukrullah, Abdul Ghaffar, Khuram Ali
and S. K. Sharma
Perspective of Nanomaterials in the Performance of Solar Cells . . . . . . 25
Hafiz Muhammad Asif Javed, Wenxiu Que, Muhammad Raza Ahmad,
Khuram Ali, M. Irfan Ahmad, Anam ul Haq and S. K. Sharma
Materials for Solar Cell Applications: An Overview of TiO2, ZnO,
Upconverting Organic and Polymer-Based Solar Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Navadeep Shrivastava, Helliomar Barbosa, Khuram Ali and S. K. Sharma
Recent Advances in Solar Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Marcio A. P. Almeida
Photovoltaic Materials Design by Computational Studies:
Metal Sulfides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Edan Bainglass, Sajib K. Barman and Muhammad N. Huda
Photovoltaic-Based Nanomaterials: Synthesis and Characterization . . . . 139
Kanwal Akhtar, Naveed Akhtar Shad, M. Munir Sajid, Yasir Javed,
Muhammad Asif, Khuram Ali, Hafeez Anwar, Yasir Jamil
and S. K. Sharma
Carbon Nanotubes: Synthesis and Application in Solar Cells . . . . . . . . 159
Shazia Shukrullah, Muhammad Yasin Naz, Khuram Ali and S. K. Sharma
Basic Concepts, Engineering, and Advances in Dye-Sensitized
Solar Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Mohan Chandra Mathpal, Promod Kumar, F. H. Aragón,
Maria A. G. Soler and H. C. Swart
Quantum Dot Solar Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Hafeez Anwar, Iram Arif, Uswa Javeed, Huma Mushtaq, Khuram Ali
and S. K. Sharma

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x Contents

Organometal Halide Perovskite-Based Materials and Their

Applications in Solar Cell Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Amna Bashir and Muhammad Sultan
Effect of Oxygen Vacancies in Electron Transport Layer for
Perovskite Solar Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Mohamad Firdaus Mohamad Noh, Nurul Affiqah Arzaee
and Mohd Asri Mat Teridi
Solar Cells and Optoelectronic Devices in Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Khuram Ali, Syedda Shaher Bano, Hasan M. Khan and S. K. Sharma
Multi-junction (III–V) Solar Cells: From Basics to Advanced
Materials Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Khuram Ali, Afifa Khalid, Muhammad Raza Ahmad, Hasan M. Khan,
Irshad Ali and S. K. Sharma