Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
Extension of the New Model to CIGS
Thin-Film Solar Cells
5.1 Introduction
Thematerial,copperindiumgalliumdiselenide(CIGS)hasattracted
intense research within the PV community due to its high potential
in thin-film solar cell development. This has been demonstrated
by the report of 19.5% conversion e
ciency in the year 2005
for lab-scale solar cell devices [1]. The e
ciency has increased to
20.3% in 2010 [2], showing the gradual progress in the research
and development front. However, further development of this
device has been slow due to inadequate understanding in complex
materialissues,processingsteps,andunderlyingsolid-statephysics
principles of the device. This chapter summarises the current
knowledgeintheseareasandproposesanimproveddeviceconcept
todescribethephotovoltaicactionofCIGS-basedsolarcells.Possible
ways forward for further development of CIGS solar cells are also
proposed.
