Design of grating Al₂O₃ passivation structure optimized for high-efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells

In this paper, we propose an optimized structure of thin Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cells with a grating aluminum oxide (Al₂ O₃) passivation layer (GAPL) providing nano-sized contact openings in order to improve power conversion efficiency using optoelectrical simulations. Al₂ O₃ is used as a rear surface passivation material to reduce carrier recombination and improve reflectivity at a rear surface for high efficiency in thin CIGS solar cells. To realize high efficiency for thin CIGS solar cells, the optimized structure was designed by manipulating two structural factors: the contact opening width (COW) and the pitch of the GAPL. Compared with an unpassivated thin CIGS solar cell, the efficiency was improved up to 20.38% when the pitch of the GAPL was 7.5–12.5 µm. Furthermore, the efficiency was improved as the COW of the GAPL was decreased. The maximum efficiency value occurred when the COW was 100 nm because of the effective carrier recombination inhibition and high reflectivity of the Al₂ O₃ insulator passivation with local contacts. These results indicate that the designed structure has optimized structural points for high-efficiency thin CIGS solar cells. Therefore, the photovoltaic (PV) generator and sensor designers can achieve the higher performance of photosensitive thin CIGS solar cells by considering these results.