Simulation and Optimization of CdTe Thin Film Solar Cell with Cu Doped NiO Back Contact

NiO and Cu:NiO powder prepared by sol-gel method and solution treatment was spin-coated on CdTe layer to form Cu:NiO back contact of CdTe solar cell. The performances of the solar cell with CdS/CdTe/Cu:NiO structure were simulated and analyzed using AMPS software. Through the simulations, we investigated the effect of the back contact layer thickness and carrier concentration on the solar cell performances. The maximum efficiency of 19.26% was obtained at the back contact layer thickness of 20 nm and carrier concentration of 1018 cm–3. And we carried out the measurement of the recombination resistance and solar cell performances with different copper doping concentration for Cu:NiO back contact. The maximum efficiency was obtained at 5% copper doping concentration.