The incorporation of an electron reflector is a proposed strategy to improve the open‐circuit voltage of CdTe solar cells. An electron reflector is a conduction‐band barrier that can effectively reduce electron recombination at the back surface. In this work, the electron‐reflector strategy is numerically applied to a thin‐film CdTe record‐cell baseline model (efficiency = 16.5%). Simulation shows that to have the optimal effect from an electron reflector, the CdTe thickness should be on the order of 1 µm, or slightly lower if the optical reflection at the back surface can be enhanced. Efficiency above 19% should be achievable with a 0.2‐eV electron reflector and currently achievable parameters (10 14 ‐cm −3 hole density and 1‐ns lifetime). Moreover, efficiency above 20% should be possible at a 1‐µm absorber layer if large optical back reflection can also be achieved.
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Hsiao et al. (2011) studied this question.