Design considerations for thin film CuInSe/sub 2/, and other polycrystalline heterojunction solar cells

The design considerations which allow the fabrication of efficient thin-film solar cells in despite the presence of 'dead' layers is discussed. CIS thin-film cells are used as a particular example but the conclusions apply to a variety of thin-film cells. The effects of the application of these design principles are illustrated using the results of numerical simulations of CdS/CuInSe/sub 2/ solar cells, since these cells are reasonably mature in both their modeling and fabrication and offer experimental verification of the theory presented.<
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