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Benjamin Sanchez Lengeling edited CdTe_photovoltaics_PV_is_the__.tex
almost 9 years ago
Commit id: 806adcfbd4a9ebfaa2f6554280b9afe726437e30
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CdTe photovoltaics (PV) is the only thin film technology with lower costs ($\frac{\$}{W}$) than conventional solar cells made of crystalline silicon in multi-kilowatt systems. In August of 2014, First SolarĀ® was able to accomplish a CdTe solar cell efficiency of 21.5\% \cite{firstsolar2015} while their commercial high volume PV modules have 17.0\% \cite{Sinha_2013}.
The theoretical upper bound of efficiency, the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit \cite{Shockley_1961} for a PV with a band gap of 1.49 eV (CdTe) under the standard AM1.5G flat-plate solar spectrum \cite{nreal} is 32.2\%. This is relevant
considering that when comparing with other similar thin film PVs such as
GaAs GaAs, which have
an a relative efficiency
of $
\zeta_{SQ} = \frac{ \zeta_{SQ}=\frac{ \zeta_{real} }{ SQ_{limit}
} $ \cite{Vossier_2015}, of $ \zeta_{SQ}= }= \frac{28.8}{33.1} \approx 0.87 $
\cite{Vossier_2015} \cite{Yablonovitch_2012}.
Under this metric, CdTe research grade PVs have a value of $\zeta_{SQ}=0.667$. and commercial PV modules have $\zeta_{SQ}=\frac{17.0}{32.2}\approx 0.52$. There is much room for improvement to make this technology more affordable.
This paper discusses the optical and electrical factors that reduce the efficiency of a single junction CdTe PV below the SQ limit and provides recommendations on closing this 9.0-15.2\% gap.