Enhancing the open circuit voltage of the SnS based heterojunction solar cell using NiO HTL. (1st September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ahmmed, Shamim; Aktar, Asma; Hossain, Jaker; Ismail, Abu Bakar Md.
• Is Part Of: Solar energy. Volume 207(2020)
• Page Start: 693
• Page End: 702
• Publication Date: 2020-09-01
• Subjects: SnS -- CeO2 -- NiO -- Hole transport layer -- Heterojunction solar cell; Solar energy -- Periodicals; Solar engines -- Periodicals; 621.47
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.07.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-092X

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: A novel heterostructure (ITO/CeO2 /SnS/NiO/Mo) of SnS-based solar cell has been designed and simulated. NiO HTL has enhanced the open circuit voltage by 345 mV. Maximum PCE of 25.1% has been achieved with VOC of 0.890 V, JSC of 32.67 mA/cm 2, and FF of 86.19%, respectively. Abstract: In this article, the numerical investigations on a novel (ITO/CeO2 /SnS/NiO/Mo) heterostructure of the SnS-based solar cell have been presented using SCAPS-1D simulation software. The main objective of the study was the exploration of the effect of NiO hole transport layer (HTL) on the performance of the proposed SnS-based heterojunction solar cell. The open circuit voltage of the proposed cell has been enhanced up to 345 mV after using NiO HTL which indicates a significant reduction of surface recombination velocity at SnS/electrode interface. Around 12.78% efficiency enhancement was observed after using NiO HTL in the SnS-based heterojunction solar cell, and an efficiency of 25.1% could be obtained from the proposed heterojunction solar cell. It was found that the cell performance depended on the carrier concentration and thickness of the CeO2 electron transport layer (ETL), SnS absorber layer, and NiO HTL, respectively. The effects of deep level defect density of the SnS absorber layer and interface defect density of NiO/SnS and CeO2 /SnS on the cell performance ware also studied. These findings reveal that the NiO could be a promising HTL for the fabrication of low cost, high-efficiency SnS-based heterojunction solar cell.