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Perovskite-CIGS Monolithic Tandem Solar Cells with 29.7%


Efficiency: A Numerical Study
Nikhil Shrivastav, Savita Kashyap, Jaya Madan,* Ali K. Al-Mousoi, Mustafa K. A. Mohammed,*
M. Khalid Hossain, Rahul Pandey,* and Jeyakumar Ramanujam

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ABSTRACT: Tandem solar cells have higher efficiency than single-junction devices
owing to their wide photon absorption range. A wide band gap (Eg) absorber absorbs the
higher-energy photons in the top cell. In contrast, a comparatively low band gap absorber
material is utilized in the bottom cell to absorb the filtered low-energy photons.
Consequently, thermalization and transparent energy losses are overshadowed by the top
subcell (Topsc) and the bottom subcell (Bottomsc), respectively. However, to achieve the
best efficiency from a tandem design, the choice of active material in the Topsc and the
Bottomsc plays an important role. Therefore, in this proposed study, a tandem solar cell
comprising a perovskite (Eg 1.68 eV)-based top cell and a copper indium gallium
selenide (CIGS, Eg 1.1 eV)-based Bottomsc has been designed and analyzed. A state-of-
the-art Me-4PACz ([4-(3,6-dimethyl-9H-carbazol-9-yl)butyl] phosphonic acid) hole
transport layer (HTL) in the perovskite solar cell reported in the previous literature has
been considered for the top cell, whereas a calibrated CIGS-based Bottomsc with 16.50%
efficiency is designed. Both the Topsc and the Bottomsc are examined for the tandem configuration using filtered spectra and current-
matching techniques. In perovskite/CIGS tandem design, an ideal tunnel recombination junction uses Me-4PACz and ITO layers.
In a tandem configuration with matched current density at an absorber thickness of 347 nm for Topsc and 2.0 μm for Bottomsc, the
device delivered an open-circuit voltage (VOC), current density (JSC), and fill factor (FF) of 1.92 V, 20.04 mA/cm2, and 77%,
respectively, resulting in an overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 29.7%. The results reported in this work would be
beneficial for the development of perovskite-CIGS-based monolithic tandem solar cells in the future.

1. INTRODUCTION higher wavelength photons to the low band gap subcells. The
Manufacturing costs associated with commercialized crystalline theoretical efficiency limit for a two-junction (two-terminal
silicon (c-Si)-based technology is the main hindrance to the and four-terminal) TSC with a band gap of both subcells is
widespread adoption of photovoltaic (PV) cells. Conventional given in Figure 1.
c-Si wafer-based PV devices require high-quality materials and Various types of semiconductor materials such as perov-
an expensive manufacturing process that increases the per-watt skites, CIGS, amorphous silicon (a-Si:H), and polycrystalline
cost of electricity. Therefore, researchers started exploring non- cadmium telluride (CdTe) are used as absorbers for high-
Si-based thin-film PV cells owing to their potential in the PV efficiency tandem devices.15−22 The configuration of TSCs is
market. Low-cost, high-efficiency, simple fabrication techni- further divided mainly into two different categories, two-
ques, and device architecture are the primary requirements for terminal monolithic and four-terminal mechanically stacked. In
large-scale PV applications.1−8 However, inevitable charge a mechanically stacked configuration, the cells are fabricated
carrier thermalization and nonabsorption photon losses are the separately with individual collecting electrodes and are further
main problems in single-junction devices. Therefore, to connected electrically with the help of an external circuit. This
diminish these issues, tandem solar cells (TSCs) are employed configuration restricts electrode selection for the Topsc. Three
in the PV industry to increase the efficiency by reducing the transparent electrodes are required to ensure sufficient optical
abovementioned losses, proving to be a promising ap-
proach.1,9−13 In the TSC architecture, two or more solar Received: November 23, 2022
cells are stacked one over the other to ensure efficient Revised: January 21, 2023
spectrum utilization to minimize thermalization and non- Published: February 7, 2023
absorbed photon losses simultaneously. The cells are placed in
descending order of band gaps. Higher band gap subcells use
the lower wavelength photons and allow the optical coupling of

© 2023 American Chemical Society https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03973


3083 Energy Fuels 2023, 37, 3083−3090
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Figure 1. Efficiency limit for two-junction TSCs with respect to the Topsc and Bottomsc energy band gap under the AM 1.5G spectrum.
Reproduced with permission from ref 14. Copyright 2007 John Wiley and Sons.

Table 1. Electrical Parameters Used during Simulations25,26,30,32−41a


top cell bottom cell
properties TL1 TL2 TL3 TL4 TL5 BL1 BL2 BL3 BL4
band gap (eV) 3.5 3.6 1.7 1.67 3.3 3.6 3.2 2.4 1.1
electron affinity (eV) 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 2.8 4.1 4.4 4.4 4.5
dielectric constant 10 9 6 10 10 10 9 10 13.6
conduction band effective density 1 × 1019 2.2 × 1019 1 × 1019 1 × 1019 1 × 1019 2.2 × 1019 3.1 × 1018 2 × 1018 2.2 × 1018
(/cm3)
valence band effective density 1 × 1019 1.8 × 1019 1 × 1019 1 × 1019 1 × 1019 1.8 × 1019 1.7 × 1019 1.8 × 1019 1.8 × 1019
(/cm3)
electron mobility (cm2/Vs) 1 × 10−2 100 50 20 6 50 100 100 100
hole mobility (cm2/Vs) 1 × 10−3 25 50 2 24 75 31 25 25
donor doping density (ND /cm3) 1 × 1018 1 × 1018 1 × 1018 1 × 1016 0 1 × 1019 1 × 1019 1 × 107 0
acceptor doping density (NA /cm3) 0 0 0 0 1 × 1018 0 0 0 2 × 1016
a
Here, top layers TL1, TL2, TL3, TL4, and TL5 and bottom layers BL1, BL2, BL3, and BL4 refer to IZO, SnO2, C60, perovskite, and Me-4PACz
and ITO, ZnO, CdS, and CIGS, respectively.

coupling in the Topsc and the Bottomsc.23 In the second reported a monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem with a
configuration, which is monolithic, the entire device is validated 29.15% efficiency. Recently, different materials and
designed utilizing layer-by-layer deposition, and a tunnel techniques have been employed to improve the device’s
recombination junction or current-matching layer for the performance, whereas mechanically stacked perovskite/CIGS-
current matching between both subcells facilitates the based TSC with 23.9% efficiency was reported to reduce
structure. Therefore, monolithic TSCs require fewer electro- oxygen sensitivity. Efficiency data show that perovskite/CIGS
des, fewer auxiliary electronics, and fewer interconnections like tandem devices require further attention to improve efficiency
transparent conducting layers and electric wires.23 by reducing electrical and optical losses. Despite various
Monolithic perovskite/silicon TSCs have been reported with experimental and theoretical studies for the perovskite-CIGS
experimental efficiency between 21.4 and 29.15%.23−26 Si- TSCs, perovskites with a high-quality Me-4PACz layer as the
based tandem designs were used to enhance efficiency in the HTL26 in the top cell have not been utilized till now in the
PV industry.26−28 However, Si-based tandem devices require literature. Therefore, in this research, while designing the
high-quality thick Si wafers resulting in higher costs. The perovskite-CIGS tandem device, the Me-4PACz layer as the
production cost is reduced using an alternate tandem design HTL is considered for perovskite Topsc to ensure enhanced
involving a CIGS-based cell over glass as the bottom cell hole extraction from the Topsc.
(instead of Si) and a perovskite-based cell as the top cell. A The focus of the proposed work is to design low-cost,
two-terminal perovskite/CIGS TSC with 10.9% efficiency was tunable band gap, and highly efficient tandem devices. Here,
reported in 2015.14 Using a semitransparent n-i-p structure, a we have considered two different absorber materials to utilize
PCE of 18.6% was obtained.23 Fu et al.24 demonstrated a the power spectrum efficiently: perovskite (1.68 eV) for the
perovskite-CIGS tandem device with 20.5% efficiency. Later in top cell and CIGS (1.1 eV) for the bottom cell. All of the
2017, Wu et al.9 reported monolithic perovskite/Si-based numerical studies are done with SCAPS-1D software, and the
TSCs with 22% efficiency. Earlier in 2020, Al-Ashouri et al.26 results are inferred in terms of PV parameters such as current
3084 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03973
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density−voltage (J−V) and external quantum efficiency (EQE) Initially, CIGS-based solar cells’ calibration in the standalone
curves. Initially, a calibrated perovskite top cell is considered condition is performed according to the published liter-
from our previous work,25 and the CIGS (1.1 eV) bottom cell ature.29,30 After that, an analysis of the tandem configuration
is designed/simulated and also calibrated in the standalone was done by employing both subcells. In TSCs, the AM 1.5G is
configuration according to the published literature.29 After- utilized to simulate the Topsc and the Bottomsc using the
ward, the tandem solar device is designed by integrating both filtered spectrum obtained from the Topsc. The filtered
subcells depending upon the current-matched conditions spectrum for variation in top cell thickness is calculated
between both subcells. The thickness variation of both subcells using the given equation31
is determined to optimize tandem device performance. Details ÄÅ 5 ÉÑ
ÅÅÅ ÑÑÑ
T ( ) = T0( )expÅÅÅ ( k( )·tk)ÑÑÑ
of the device simulation are described in Section 2, followed by
results and discussion in Section 3. ÅÅ ÑÑ
ÅÇ k = 1 ÑÖ
2. DEVICE STRUCTURE AND SIMULATION where k is 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 for the five different layers of the top
METHODOLOGY cell, α is the absorption coefficient of respective materials of a
One-dimensional SCAPS-1D software program designs and top cell, and t is the material thickness.
simulates the two-terminal monolithically stacked perovskite/
CIGS tandem device. Here, two distinct materials, such as 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
perovskite with a Eg of 1.68 eV and CIGS of 1.1 eV, are used The ongoing section is divided into two different subsections.
for numerical studies. The perovskite-based top cell consists of Section 3.1 presents the calibration, optimization, and detailed
IZO (60 nm)/SnO2 (20 nm)/C60 (20 nm)/perovskite (350 standalone CIGS-based Bottomsc analysis. Further, Section 3.2
nm)/Me-4PACz (1 nm) as reported in refs 25, 26 and bottom describes the analysis of tandem device performance by
cell comprises of ITO (60 nm)/ZnO (50 nm)/CdS (50 nm)/ utilizing the perovskite Topsc and CIGS Bottomsc.
CIGS (0.5 to 5000 nm). In the Topsc, the perovskite layer acts 3.1. Calibration and Analysis of the CIGS Bottom Cell
as an absorber to absorb the high-energy photons. Similarly, under the Standalone Configuration. The calibration and
the Bottomsc uses the CIGS layer to absorb the low-energy analysis of CIGS-based bottom cells have been performed
photons. Both subcells are connected through an intermediate under the standalone configuration as per published exper-
layer of ITO (60 nm) to provide the current matching for the imental data.29 Here, the CIGS layer-based absorber layer is
tandem configurations. An ideal tunnel recombination junction used to absorb the incoming photons. The CIGS bottom cell is
(TRJ) layer is considered, which ignores optoelectronic losses calibrated at 2.3 μm, and the corresponding simulated PV
such as parasitic absorption and resistive losses associated with parameters and J−V curve of the calibrated device have been
recombination junction. Further, in the bottom cell, ZnO (50 attained and given in Figure 3a. The simulated J−V trend
nm) is used as an electron transport layer, and the CdS layer agrees with experimental data.29 Further, the EQE for the
acts as a buffer layer to increase the absorption of light in the calibrated CIGS bottom cell is also attained and depicted in
visible region. All of the electrical properties for simulations are Figure 3b. From Figure 3b, it is noticed that the EQE trend is
mentioned in Table 1, and all of the properties for decreasing owing to front-surface recombination at a lower
consideration of interface defects are summarized in Table 2. wavelength, and the reduction at a higher wavelength is due to
low diffusion length, less absorption, and rear-surface
Table 2. Properties For All of the Interface Defects for Top recombination losses. Therefore, a maximum EQE response,
and Bottom Cells35,42,43 in the range of 90−80%, has been observed between 400 nm
and 900 nm. Afterward, the calibrated and simulated
bottom cell
interface performance was compared for the CIGS bottom cell and
top cell interface defects defects shown in Table 3.
IZO/ SnO2/ C60/ ITO/ ZnO/ CdS/ After calibrating the bottom cell, the CIGS absorber layer
properties SnO2 C60 perovskite ZnO CdS CIGS thickness is varied from 0.5 to 5 μm and the J−V, EQE, and PV
type of defect neutral parameters are obtained as shown in Figures 4a,b and 5. The
capture cross section 1 × 10−19 1 × 10−15 J−V curve shows an increase in current density due to higher
electrons and holes photon absorption up to a 2.3 μm thick absorber layer.
(cm2)
Thereafter, a saturation of current density was observed for the
energy level (eV) 0.6
thickness beyond 2.3 μm. VOC increases as the thickness is
reference for defect beyond the maximum Ev
energy level (Et) increased from 0.5 to 2.3 μm and shows saturation thereafter.
total density (1/cm2) 10 Increasing the absorber thickness produced more electron−
hole pair generation due to increased light absorption in the
absorber. It further resulted in the better splitting of quasi-
Optical properties for top and bottom subcells have been Fermi levels in the absorber layer, which improved the JSC and
obtained from previous studies.21,26,36,37 The schematic VOC. After 2.3 μm, saturation in absorption yields saturation in
diagram for the proposed device for standalone and tandem both VOC and JSC. The optical performance in terms of EQE is
simulations is provided in Figure 2a−d. The standalone also studied while increasing the thickness. The high-energy
configuration for the Topsc and the Bottomsc is depicted in (low wavelength) photons are generally absorbed at the surface
Figure 2a,b, where the standard AM 1.5G spectrum has been of the absorber layer, while the low-energy (high wavelength)
utilized for the simulations. The strategy for the simulation of photons penetrate deep inside to get absorbed. Thus, the
series-connected monolithic TSCs by utilizing a filtered impact of thickness is only visible for high-wavelength photons,
spectrum and current-matching approach is shown in Figure while the absorption of low-wavelength photons is insignif-
2c,d. icantly impacted by thickness variation.
3085 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03973
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Figure 2. (a) Top cell and (b) bottom cell under the standalone configuration. (c) Strategy for tandem simulation using SCAPS-1D and (d)
schematic view of a two-terminal perovskite-CIGS-based tandem device, where the top cell is illuminated by the standard AM 1.5 spectrum and
filtered spectrum produced by the Topsc is transmitted to the Bottomsc for complete device simulations.

Figure 3. (a) J−V curve of the calibrated CIGS bottom cell under light conditions as per experimental data.29 (b) EQE curve.

Table 3. Comparison of Calibrated and Simulated PV with an increase of thickness from 0.5 to 2.3 μm, as shown in
Parameters of the CIGS Bottom Cell under the Standalone Figure 4b. After that, a marginal improvement in EQE was
Configuration obtained beyond 2.3 μm thickness due to absorption
saturation in the absorber layer.
PV parameters JSC (mA/cm2) VOC (V) FF (%) PCE (%)
Figure 5 depicts the impact of different thickness variations
calibrated 33.51 0.66 74.20 16.50
of the CIGS layer on PV parameters. It shows an increase in
simulated 35.98 0.64 70.51 16.26
JSC from 33.99 to 35.98 mA/cm2 and an increase in VOC from
0.628 to 0.641 V. After that, no significant change was
From the results, it is noticed that a large number of photons observed. A marginal improvement in fill factor (FF) was
are absorbed in the absorber layer, resulting in higher EQE obtained from 70.24 to 70.51%. The overall impact of JSC, VOC,

Figure 4. Impact of different CIGS thicknesses from 0.5 to 5 μm on (a) EQE and (b) J−V of the bottom cell under the standalone configuration.

3086 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03973
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Figure 6. Short-circuit current density at the different bottom and top


cell thicknesses for current matching.

different current-matching points corresponding to both


Figure 5. Influence of different thickness variations from 0.5 to 2.5 subcell thickness are also obtained and given in Figure 8.
μm on CIGS bottom cell PV parameters.
The results show an increase in tandem device performance via
increasing the optimized current-matching points. Quantita-
and FF has been observed in PCE, where the increase in tively, an increase in JSC from 19.38 → 19.9 → 20.09 → 20.18
efficiency is obtained from 15.0 to 16.26% with the increase of mA/cm2 is achieved while increasing the top/bottom cell
thickness from 0.5 to 2.3 μm, and it saturates beyond 2.3 μm as thickness from 282 nm/0.5 μm → 318 nm/1 μm → 334 nm/
that of JSC and VOC. Therefore, the optimized PV parameters of 1.5 μm → 347 nm/2 μm. Similarly, VOC increases from 1.89 →
JSC = 35.98 mA/cm2, VOC = 0.64 V, FF = 70.51%, and PCE = 1.89 → 1.90 → 1.92 V at the same thickness variations.
16.26% have been achieved at an optimized absorber thickness Further, the impact of all four thicknesses has been studied on
of 2.3 μm. FF, which also increases from 73.57 → 76.02 → 76.8 →
3.2. Analysis of Two-Terminal Stacked Perovskite/ 77.14%. From all results, it has been observed that the
CIGS Tandem Solar Cells. After the calibration and maximum PCE of 29.72% has been achieved at the top/
optimization of CIGS bottom cells, we represent the analysis bottom cell thickness of 347 nm/2.0 μm. In summary, a
of two-terminal stacked perovskite/CIGS-based TSCs. In a 29.72% efficiency perovskite/CIGS tandem device with JSC =
tandem device, both subcells are connected in series via a 20.04 mA/cm2, VOC = 1.92 V, and FF = 77% is obtained.
tunnel recombination junction (TRJ) layer to satisfy the After optimizing both subcells’ thickness per current-
current-matching condition mentioned in refs 44, 45. matching conditions, individual J−V curves of the top cell
However, the TRJ layer is not supported by SCAPS-1D (under AM 1.5G), the bottom cell (under AM 1.5G, and
software in this work. Therefore, this work utilizes a widely filtered spectrum by the top cell), and TSC are obtained and
adopted filtered spectrum and a current-matching approach to present in Figure 9. It is perceived from Figure 9 that the Topsc
make the tandem J−V curve.10,31,46−49 For current matching, delivers less current than the Bottomsc in the standalone
thickness variation of the bottom cell is done from 0.5 to 5 μm configuration and acts as a current-limiting cell. Therefore, the
along with thickness variation of the top cell from 50 to 1000 final JSC of the tandem device is equal to the JSC of the current-
nm. Simultaneously, JSC values corresponding to the top and limiting top cell, i.e., 20.04 mA/cm2, and VOC is 1.92 V, which
bottom cell thickness are obtained from the current-matching is the sum of a voltage drop across the top/bottom cell. All of
curve, as depicted in Figure 5. It is noteworthy that the JSC the optimized PV parameters of all simulated devices are
values for the top cell are obtained under the standard AM tabulated in Table 4.
1.5G spectrum, and for the bottom cell, JSC is obtained by
simulating the Bottomsc under the filtered spectrum by the 4. CONCLUSIONS
Topsc. It has been observed that there is an improvement in In this work, a monolithic two-terminal perovskite/CIGS-
current-matched JSC up to the first four current-matching based TSC with 29.72% efficiency is designed and simulated
points (Figure 6) and it becomes constant after that. using SCAPS-1D software. A calibrated perovskite top cell (Eg
Therefore, only four current-matching points in terms of of 1.67 eV) has been invoked from the previous literature,
top/bottom cell thickness have been considered, such as 282 while a CIGS-based Bottomsc (Eg of 1.1 eV) is analyzed,
nm/0.5 μm, 318 nm/1.0 μm, 334 nm/1.5 μm, and 347 nm/2.0 calibrated, and optimized under standalone conditions. The
μm. calibrated Bottomsc showed 16.26% conversion efficiency at an
Further, individual J−V curves for top, bottom, and tandem absorber layer thickness of 2.3 μm. Further, both subcells are
cells have been obtained with the help of the scripting feature coupled in series to make the TSC with the filtered spectrum
of SCAPS-1D.25 The first four current-matching points are and the current-matching approach. The AM 1.5G spectrum is
chosen to obtain the J−V curves, as given in Figure 7a−d. The used for the Topsc, and the Bottomsc is simulated using the
obtained results represent that the voltage drop across the TSC filtered spectrum obtained by the Topsc. The tandem device
is the sum of the voltage drop across both subcells individually. under consideration showed JSC = 20.04 mA/cm2, VOC = 1.92
All of the devices showed similar JSC, which validates the V, FF = 77%, and PCE = 29.72% at optimized thicknesses of
successful current-matching scenario as given in Figure 7a−d. 347 nm and 2.0 μm in the Topsc and the Bottomsc,
Furthermore, output parameters of the tandem cell at four respectively. The main limitation of the adopted filtered
3087 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03973
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Figure 7. Illuminated J−V curves of the top, bottom, and tandem solar device at a different optimized current-matching thickness of the Topsc and
the Bottomsc: (a) 282 nm/0.5 μm, (b) 318 nm/1 μm, (c) 334 nm/1.5 μm, and (d) 347 nm/2 μm.

Figure 9. Illuminated J−V curves of the Topsc and the Bottomsc in the
standalone, tandem, and the bottom cell under a filtered spectrum.
Figure 8. Improved PV parameters of TSCs at an optimized Topsc Table 4. Optimized Performance of the Topsc and the
and Bottomsc thickness of 347 nm and 2.0 μm, respectively. The
maximum device performance is obtained at the optimized current-
Bottomsc in the Standalone Configuration and the Tandem
matching thickness of 347 nm (top cell)/2.0 μm (bottom cell). Configuration
VOC JSC PCE
device (V) (mA/cm2) FF (%) (%)
topsc (perovskite thickness 347 nm) 1.28 20.04 79.87 20.58
spectrum approach is that it ignores the interfacial reflection bottomsc (CIGS thickness 2.0 μm) 0.64 35.90 70.52 16.20
losses and interference effects. The transfer matrix method bottomsc under filtered light 0.62 20.00 69.48 8.61
spectrum by topsc (perovskite
(TMM) can be used in the future to calculate a more accurate 347 nm)
filtered spectrum. The reported research work may open the perovskite-CIGS monolithic TSC | 1.92 20.04 77.00 29.72
top (perovskite 347 nm)/bottom
path for further advancement in low-cost and high-efficiency (CIGS thickness 2 μm)

perovskite-CIGS tandem devices.


3088 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c03973
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■ ASSOCIATED CONTENT
Data Availability Statement
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