Cu effects on CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells prepared on flexible substrates

Thin film CdS/CdTe solar cells of the substrate configuration (foil/back contact (BC)/CdTe/CdS/TCO) have been prepared on the molybdenum (Mo)-coated stainless steel substrates. Copper (Cu) is introduced in the cell by briefly immersing the device in a CuCl solution at different stages of the fabrication process in order to study the effect of Cu on cell performance. The structural and morphological properties of the CdTe and CdS films have been investigated. CdS/CdTe solar cells with and without Cu incorporation are characterized. The results suggest that cell performance can be improved by incorporating Cu under certain conditions. Solar cells with efficiencies above 7% have been prepared in this study.