Cu/sub 3/BiS/sub 3/, Cu/sub 3/BiS/sub 4/, Ga/sub 3/BiS/sub 3/ and Cu/sub 5/Ga/sub 2/BiS/sub 8/ as potential solar absorbers for thin film photovoltaics

The development of novel solar absorbers and device architectures that incorporate only materials which are cost effective, abundant, and non-toxic may be required for widespread deployment of photovoltaics. We have identified four potential solar absorbers as possible candidates for photovoltaic applications. Cu/sub 3/BiS/sub 3/ (E/sub g/=1.2 eV) has been previously reported to be a suitable solar absorber. Three additional compounds: Cu/sub 3/BiS/sub 4/, Ga/sub 3/BiS/sub 3/, and Cu/sub 5/Ga/sub 2/BiS/sub 8/, have been targeted for exploratory synthesis. Once a suitable absorber has been identified, development of novel device architectures will be carried out using combinatorial methods in an effort to produce a device exhibiting sufficient efficiency to capture the interest of the photovoltaics community.