A comparative performance analysis of CdS and In2S3 buffer layer in CIGS solar cell

Abstract

Thin-film solar cells (TFSCs) have the potential to reach cost effective photovoltaic generated electricity. Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) and Indium Sulfide (In2S3) buffer layer based Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) solar cell offers higher efficiency with low manufacturing cost. Therefore, this paper presents a comparative study between CdS and In2S3 buffer layer based CIGS solar cell. The numerical study has been performed using a Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator named SCAPS-1D. The performance of CIGS solar cell is observed by adjusting the buffer layer thickness of both CdS and In2S3. The efficiency of CdS/CIGS solar cell is found 25.56% that is higher than the efficiency of In2S3/CIGS (24.41%) solar cell for 50 nm buffer layer thickness. It is also found that, the increase in buffer layer thickness from the optimum level degrades the performance of CdS/CIGS solar cell as compared to In2S3/CIGS solar cell. Therefore, In2S3 based CIGS cell could be an ideal candidate as a substitute of toxic CdS buffer layer based CIGS solar cell.