Modeling and performance analysis dataset of a CIGS solar cell with ZnS buffer layer.

This article represents the baseline data of the several semiconductor materials used in the model of a CIGS thin film solar cell with an inclusion of ZnS buffer layer. As well, input parameters, contact layer data and operating conditions for CIGS solar cell simulation with ZnS buffer layer have been described. The schematic diagram of photovoltaic solar cell has been depicted. Moreover, the most important performance measurement graph, J-V characteristic curve, resulting from CIGS solar cell simulation has been analyzed to estimate the optimum values of fill factor and cell efficiency. These optimum results have been obtained from the open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, and the maximum points of voltage and current density generated from the cell.

Specifications Table

Value of the data

This dataset can be used to compare the theoretical result of other CIGS solar cell models.

Using these dataset researchers can easily develop a theoretical model of a solar cell.

The simulation approach used in other simulators can be justified by using the simulated performance data.

These data will be helpful to expand the idea of numerical modeling before fabrication of CIGS solar cells.

Data

The values of the materials which have been used different layers for simulation to design a CIGS solar cell are presented in Table 1. The reflectance and the recombination velocity for holes and electrons for both front and back contact layer of the cell have been listed in Table 2. The simulation was carried out under some simulation conditions that have been represented by Table 3. All of these data has been assumed from the published research articles [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. Fig. 1 lays out the schematic design for ZnO:Al/i-ZnO/ZnS/CIGS structure. Consequently, Fig. 2 shows the J-V characteristic curve for optimized CIGS photovoltaic cell whereas Table 4 reports the performance parameters of the cell.

Table 1

Input parameters for CIGS solar cell simulation with ZnS buffer.

Parameters	n-ZnO: Al	i-ZnO	n-ZnS	p-CIGS
Thickness, t_m(μm)	0.20	0.02	0.04	3.00
Dielectric constant, K_s	7.80	7.80	8.28	13.60
Refractive index, N_dx	2.00	2.00	3.16	3.67
Band gap, E_g(eV)	3.30	3.30	3.68	1.21
Electron affinity, χ_e(eV)	4.60	4.60	4.13	4.21
Electron mobility, μ_n(cm^2V^−1s^−1)	160	130	250	100
Hole mobility, μ_p(cm^2V^−1s^−1)	40	30	70	25
Conduction band effective density of states, N_c(cm^−3)	2.2×1018	1.5×1018	1.7×1018	2×1018
Valence band effective density of states, N_v(cm^−3)	1.8×1019	1.6×1019	2.4×1019	1.6×1019
Donor concentration, N_d(cm^−3)	1×1018	–	5×1016	–
Acceptor concentration, N_a(cm^−3)	–	–	–	3×1016
Electron lifetime, τ_n(s)	5×10-8	3×10-8	2×10-8	1×10-8
Hole lifetime, τ_p(s)	5×10-9	3×10-9	6×10-8	5×10-8

Table 2

Contact layer data of CIGS solar cell simulation.

Parameters	Front contact	Back contact
Reflectance, Rf	0.2	0.8
Barrier height, Φb	0.03	1.90
Recombination velocity for holes, Sp	107	107
Recombination velocity for electrons, Sn	107	107

Table 3

Operating conditions for the simulation of CIGS solar cell.

Operating conditions	Value
Standard illumination spectra	AM1.5 G
Solar input power, E(Wm^−2)	1000
Temperature, T_c(°C)	27
Shadowing factor (%)	10

Fig. 1

Schematic diagram of CIGS photovoltaic solar cell.

Fig. 2

J-V characteristic curve for optimized CIGS solar cell.

Table 4

Performance parameters of optimized CIGS cell vs. reference cell [14].

Performance parameters	Experimental reference cell	Optimum simulated result
V_oc(mV)	671.00	826.03
J_sc(mAcm^−2)	34.90	34.87
FF(%)	77.60	85.48
η(%)	18.10	24.62

Experimental design, materials and methods

Device structure

The schematic diagram for CIGS photovoltaic solar cell has been shown in Fig. 1. The structure forms a stack of materials Mo/Cu(In,Ga)Se2/ZnS/i-ZnO/ZnO:Al/Al-grid for modeling of a CIGS cell. Soda lime glass (SLG) with Mo has been used as a back contact.

Performance analysis

ADEPT 2.1 is a one-dimensional online simulator which has been used to analyze the electrical and optical characteristics and consequently the performance of the proposed CIGS solar cell. From the J-V characteristic curve shown in Fig. 2, the performance parameters such as open-circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current density (Jsc), fill factor (FF), and efficiency (η) are computed after conducting the simulation. In Table 4, the performance parameters of the CIGS solar cell have been reported and compared with an experimental reference cell.

Subject area	Applied physics
More specific subject area	Solar energy
Type of data	Table and figure
How data was acquired	The values of the materials have been accumulated from the references[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12]. Afterwards, the numerical simulation was conducted by ADEPT 2.1 simulation tool[13]using the layer data and thus the output parameters of the CIGS solar cell have been filtered.
Data format	Filtered and analyzed
Experimental features	The solar cell has been designed as SLG/Mo/CIGS/ZnS/i-ZnO/ZnO/Al-grid stack. Thereafter, the impacts of different variable parameters of the constituent materials have been taken into consideration. Finally, the cell performance has been computed from the simulation study.
Data accessibility	Data is in the article