Copper (I) oxide (Cu 2) based solar cells - a review

Abstract

Coper (I) oxide (Cu2O) is a potential material for the fabrication of low cost solar cells for terrestrial application. A detailed survey on the previous work so far carried out on Cu2O based solar cells has been presented. The aspects discussed include the fabrication of Schottky (metal/semiconductor) barrier Cu2O solar cells, where different low work function metals are used to form the Schottky barrier solar cells. The problems associated with the Cu2O Schottky barrier solar cells and efforts made at improving the performance of these solar cells are highlighted. Discussions on heterojunction solar cells with Cu2O have also been presented. Various transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) used in forming the heterojunction cells are mentioned, and success and failures of using them highlighted. The technological developments of these cells are still in their infancy and the performance remains very poor. The roots causes of this poor performance are analyzed and possible areas for future research in the field are outlined.