Multinary alloying for facilitated cation exchange and suppressed defect formation in kesterite solar cells with above 14% certified efficiency

Jiangjian Shi, Jinlin Wang, Fanqi Meng, Jiazheng Zhou, Xiao Xu, Kang Yin, Licheng Lou, Menghan Jiao, Bowen Zhang, Huijue Wu, Yanhong Luo, Dongmei Li and Qingbo Meng ()
Additional contact information
Jiangjian Shi: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jinlin Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Fanqi Meng: Peking University
Jiazheng Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiao Xu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kang Yin: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Licheng Lou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Menghan Jiao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Bowen Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Huijue Wu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yanhong Luo: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dongmei Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qingbo Meng: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Energy, 2024, vol. 9, issue 9, 1095-1104

Abstract: Abstract Kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells are highly promising low-cost thin-film photovoltaics. However, the efficiency of these solar cells is challenged by severe charge losses and complex defects. Here we reveal through a data-driven correlation analysis that the dominant deep defect in CZTSSe exhibits a donor character. We further propose that incomplete cation exchange in the multi-step crystallization reactions of CZTSSe is the kinetic mechanism responsible for the defect formation. To facilitate the cation exchange, we introduce a multi-elemental alloying approach aimed at weakening the metal–chalcogen bond strength and the stability of intermediate phases. This strategy leads to a significant reduction in charge losses within the CZTSSe absorber and to a total-area cell efficiency of 14.6% (certified at 14.2%). Overall, these results not only present a significant advancement for kesterite solar cells but could also help identify and regulate defects in photovoltaic materials.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-024-01551-5 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natene:v:9:y:2024:i:9:d:10.1038_s41560-024-01551-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nenergy/

DOI: 10.1038/s41560-024-01551-5

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Energy is currently edited by Fouad Khan

More articles in Nature Energy from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().