Stabilizing CdTe/CdS Solar Cells with Cu‐Containing Contacts to p‐CdTe

High efficiency CdTe/CdS thin-film solar cells require low resistance contacts to p-CdTe, which is frequently achieved by addition of Cu. Decreases in cell efficiency over time, however, have been associated with Cu from the contact. The question that is considered here is if Cu is really detrimental to cell performance? By performing a series of thermal stress tests the authors reach a far more optimistic conclusion than what has hitherto been assumed. The Figure shows the proposed model for action of Cu (and Cl) in the CdTe/CdS cell.