Numerical modeling and theoretical evaluation of CdTe/Si-based efficient thin-film solar cell using a novel Sb₂Se₃ layer as additional absorber

An additional absorber layer of Sb 2 Se 3 has been used to maximize the photocurrent in this study, which further improves the overall efficiency of solar cells. The paper reports a numerical analysis of novel cadmium telluride (CdTe)/silicon (Si)-based efficient thin-film solar cell integrating antimony selenide (Sb 2 Se[Formula: see text] as an additional absorber layer. The simulation development of the proposed cell is carried out using the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS-1D) tool and recorded 40.02% power conversion efficiency (PCE). The structure of the solar cell is made up of contacts from metals aluminum (Al) and nickel (Ni), a dual absorber layer from CdTe/Sb 2 Se 3 , cadmium sulfide (CdS) as buffer/window layer and Si as an active layer. The performance of glass/SnO 2 (10[Formula: see text]nm)/CdS (50[Formula: see text]nm)/CdTe (2.5[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m)/Sb 2 Se 3 (11.2[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m)/Si (200[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m)/Al device structure gives potential results as an open circuit voltage ([Formula: see text] of 1009[Formula: see text]mV, short circuit current density ([Formula: see text] of 44.88[Formula: see text]mA/cm 2 , fill factor (FF) of 88.38 and PCE improvement up to 40.02%. The novelty of the presented thin-film solar cell has a Sb 2 Se 3 layer working as an additional absorber, which directly addresses the Shockley–Queisser barrier limits of single junction solar cells. The main praise of the proposed structure introduces the Sb 2 Se 3 layer which achieved the maximum conversion efficiency of 40.02% from 31.65%.