Optimization of CdS-free non-toxic electron transport layer for Sb2S3-based solar cell with notable enhanced performance

In this investigation, we develop CdS-free non-toxic thin-film solar cell structure with antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) as an absorber material. Sb2S3 has found to be a promising candidate for production of renewable energy. Solar cells based on Sb2S3 have been attracted worldwide attraction due to their outstanding efficiency and low cost. To serve as an optimistic buffer layer, 3C-SiC (cubic silicon carbide) is used thanks to its suitable bandgap to replace toxic cadmium sulfide (CdS). SCAPS-1D (one-dimensional solar cell capacitance simulator) software has been employed to numerically investigate the performance of Sb2S3-based n-ZnO/n-3C-SiC/p-Sb2S3 heterostructure solar cells. The influence of absorber/buffer layer thickness, acceptor/donor densities, and defect density on device working have been investigated. Consequently, the role of defects in p-Sb2S3 along with the significance of n-3C-SiC/p-Sb2S3 interface defects has been studied to provide recommendations for achieving high efficiency. The proposed structure provides the enhanced efficiency of 17% under 1.5 G illumination spectrum. The parameters regarding solar cell performance such as Voc, Jsc, FF, QE and η have been studied graphically. This novel structure may have considerable influence on progress of improved photovoltaic devices in future.