Na incorporation into Cu(In,Ga)Se2 for high-efficiency flexible solar cells on polymer foils

Abstract

Incorporation of a small amount of sodium into Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) absorbers for thin-film solar cells is well known to enhance conversion efficiencies. Usually, Na is added in a way such that it is present during CIGS growth and therewith influences the growth kinetics. We have used post-deposition Na in-diffusion into as-grown, Na-free absorbers and observed typical efficiency improvements. This suggests that in general the main positive Na effect originates from changes in the electronic absorber properties rather than from modification of CIGS growth kinetics. At low substrate temperatures, Na impedes CIGS phase formation. This may explain why absorbers grown at substrate temperatures below 450°C in the presence of Na yield inferior cells compared with post-deposition-treated CIGS. We have developed post-deposition Na incorporation for the processing of flexible CIGS solar cells on polyimide substrates. A conversion efficiency of 14.1% under AM1.5 standard test conditions was independently measured. This represents the highest reported efficiency of any solar cell grown on a polymer substrate to date.