CdTe photoelectrochemical solar cells—chemical modification of surfaces

Photoelectrochemical passivation of GaAs surfaces

A wet. chemical techniq~e is ~escribed for passivating air-exposed GaAs surfaces. The passivating ~ayer IS elemental arsemc WhICh forms as a result of illuminating an n-type GaAs wafer immersed ~n a ~i~ture of Hel acid and d~ionized 18 Mil water with light from a mercury vapor lamp at mtenSltles of 0.01-0.05 yY-cm. Studies using XPS, LEBD, and UPS show that the passivated surfaces have the foll...

Photoelectrochemical Solar Energy Storage Cells

Although society’s electrical needs are largely continuous, clouds and darkness dictate that photovoltaic solar cells have an intermittent output. A photoelectrochemical solar cell (PEC) can generate not only electrical but also electrochemical energy and provide the basis for a system with an energy-storage component (PECS). Sufficientlyž energetic inQ1 solation incident on semiconductors can ...

Key Aspects of CdTe/CdS Solar Cells

Recent developments in the following areas are briefly reviewed: a) the electrical structure of grain boundaries in CdTe absorbers, b) impurities and non-stoichiometry in CdTe solar cells and c) use of Sb2Te3 in contacts to CdTe. Nominally identical solar cells fabricated using 99.999% pure CdTe feedstock from two different suppliers were compared. Differences in the photovoltaic response and a...

Preparation and Characterization of CdTe Solar Cells

Photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical conversion of solar energy.

The Sun provides approximately 100,000 terawatts to the Earth which is about 10000 times more than the present rate of the world's present energy consumption. Photovoltaic cells are being increasingly used to tap into this huge resource and will play a key role in future sustainable energy systems. So far, solid-state junction devices, usually made of silicon, crystalline or amorphous, and prof...