DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF LOW COST NANO STRUCTURED PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR CELLS BY LAYER OVER LAYER SPIN DEPOSITION

Abstract

Based on the expirements the best results were achieved at a 100 layers deposited of CdSe. The maximum Voc = 58 mV, Isc = 0.5 nA , FF= 25 % & E= 2 X 10-4 % via spin coating, which falls on the lower end of the range for those solar cells fabricated via this technology which usually have efficiencies between 10-6% and 5%. The use of nano-materials in solar energy has an outstanding potential to minimize the cost per watt for photo-electrical current production. I have explored the methodology of manufacturing a prototype solar cell by layer over layer deposition of nano-structured material of Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) which acts as a the large band gap material dyed with the lower bad gapped Cadmium Selenide (CdSe) & for further research CdSe was deposited on graphene to enhance the efficiency of the solar cell. The Cells were characterized electrically by the I-V curve, optically through Absorption & physically through TEM. I have started by building prototypes as a proof of concept then as a further step in my research I have studied the effect of the number of layers deposited of the CdSe on the Voltage open circuit (Voc), Voltage Max (Vmax), Short circuit current (Isc), Maximum current (Imax), Fill Factor (FF), Maximum Power (Pmax) & Efficiency of each solar cell.