Simulation of thin-film solar cells with a CuInSe2 chalcopyrite structure

Abstract

By using numerical simulation, the operating temperatures of a thin-film solar cell based on CuInSe2 have been determined and the solar radiation density values, at which stabilization of the temperature operating conditions of the thin-film solar cell is not required, have been optimized. The maximum possible efficiency value of ~14.8 % is achieved under actual operating conditions, and is maintained by the incoming thermal energy as both emitted in this cell and infrared radiation of the sun and the environment. A model of the proposed thin-film solar cell was implemented in the COMSOL Multiphysics program environment with the use of the Heat Transfer Module. The operating temperatures of the solar cell without thermal stabilization under conditions of the diurnal and seasonal variations of both the ambient temperature and the power density of the AM1.5 solar spectrum have been determined. The maximum value of this power density was varied from 1.0 to 500 kW/m2 when using concentrators. The obtained values of operating temperatures of the thin-film solar cell were used to determine its main parameters in the SCAPS-1D program. The graphs of the operating temperature, efficiency and fill factor of the thin-film solar cell versus the solar radiation density are provided. It is shown that in order to obtain the highest possible efficiency of a solar cell, it is necessary to use concentrated solar radiation with a power density, the maximum value of which should be 8 kW/m2 in July and 10 kW/m2 in January. In the case of lower and higher values of power density, an appropriate thermal stabilization of the cell under consideration is necessary. The dependencies of efficiency, fill factor and open-circuit voltage versus the stabilization temperature of the solar cell, temperature gradients at the interfaces of the thermoelectric layer were also calculated. It is shown that by choosing optimal values of the thermal stabilization, the efficiency of the proposed solar cell may be about 15 % or more.