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MANUFACTURING PROCEDURES OF A CdS/CdTe THIN FILM SOLAR CELL

2008; Volume: 25; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.17563/rbav.v25i1.83

1983-4047

L. R. Cruz, Vivienne Denise Falcão, C. L. Ferreira, Wagner Anacleto Pinheiro, I. G. Mattoso, R. M. P. Alves,

TiO2 Photocatalysis and Solar Cells

This work reports the process used to manufacture CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells at the Instituto Militar de Engenharia (IME). The procedure consists of sequentially depositing several layers onto a glass substrate, config- ured as glass/TCO/CdS/CdTe/Au. Analysis of the individ- ual layers showed that the films had the minimum re- quirements to yield efficient devices. The use of different TCOs did not improve the device efficiency, probably due to other more important loss mechanisms. The available system in the laboratory for the measurement of photo- voltaic parameters yielded values near to the ones meas- ured at NREL. The maximum efficiency of 4.4% is low compared with the worldwide record of 16.5%, but it can probably be improved by optimizing some steps of the manufacturing process such as the contact to CdTe and the thickness of the CdS layer.