Solar cells, modeling electron diffusion length

The technology of ETA cells is not yet mature, and future improvements in their efficiency can reasonably be expected. Modelling calculations (Taretto and Rau, 2005) indicate that 15% efficient CdTe ETA cells are possible even at electron diffusion lengths as low as 10 nm, provided that the built-in voltage is optimised to restrict recombination over the working bias range of the cell. If efficiency improvements of this order can be achieved and fabrication methods can be satisfactorily scaled up, ETA cells could offer a low-cost, stable alternative to traditional photovoltaic cells and dye-sensitised solar cells. 

A numerical simulation of this cell based on a one-dimensional model has been carried out by Ernst (2001), Grasso et al. (2002) and by Burgelman and Grasso (2004). In the work of Ernst and Grasso et al., the spectral response data could be simulated with reasonable accuracy using only a few adjustable parameters. These simulations confirm the electron diffusion length in the p-type CdTe films to be approximately 150 nm. The recombination centre density was found to be lO cm . These data indicate that the nanocrystalline CdTe films are of inferior quality than the material used in the conventional, planar CdTe solar cells, where diffusion lengths of 2 //m and defect densities of lO cm are typical. 

This Hnear dependence has been confirmed by Halls et al. using the same bilayer structure but employing PPV as the electron donor [44]. The authors estimated the exciton diffusion length of PPV to be in the range of 6-8 nm from both the spectral response and the absolute efficiency [44]. Later Roman et al. demonstrated optical modeling to be a useful tool for the optimization of such bilayer solar cells, which in their case was based on a polythiophene derivative and Ceo [89]. The optical modeling was detailed by Petterson et al. [46]. 

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