ABSTRACT
Development of a low-cost thin-film solar cell device with a
reasonable efficiency for terrestrial solar energy conversion has
been the subject of active research over the past three decades. Two
systems based on CuInGaSe2(CIGS) and CdTe absorber materials
are currently under intense research and development worldwide.
CIGS-based solar cells are currently leading with record efficiencies
of 20.3% [1], whereas CdTe-based solar cells have achieved 16.5%
[2] for small-scale laboratory devices. The slowprogress on the CdTe
solar cell research front is noteworthy as it has taken eight years
of worldwide research to increase the efficiency by only 0.6%, from
15.9% by Britt et al. in 1993 [3] to 16.5% [2] by Wu et al. in 2001. This efficiency figure has been stagnated around 16% since 1993.
