Effect of NaF Concentration on Crystal Structure, Morphology, Optical Properties, and Performance of CIGS Solar Cells

Abstract Technological advances lead to increased use of electrical energy resources, therefore it is necessary to find alternative, environmentally friendly energy sources. One of these alternative resources is CIGS solar cells, CIGS solar cells with the addition of NaF concentration (2%, 4%, and 8%) base elements are expected to improve the characteristics of solar cells. The electrodeposition method is used in this CIGS solar cell synthesis process. In this study, CIGS solar cells with the addition of NaF can likely improve the structural, morphological, and performance properties of better CIGS solar cells. The existence of CIGS solar cells with the addition of NaF alkali can reduce the use of fossil-based electrical energy sources to reduce carbon emissions and the effects of triggering global warming. So this work aims to investigate the impact of NaF concentration on the structural and morphological properties and performance of CIGS solar cells by fabricated CIGS/NaF solar cells through attaching CIGS solution to the ITO substrate using the electrodeposition method. XRD confirmed that CIGS NaF was successfully grown with higher peaks as the NaF concentration increased. SEM results show that the porosity of CIGS/NaF tends to increase with increasing NaF concentration. In addition, UV-Vis characterization results show the direct band gap of CIGS NaF tends to decrease with increasing NaF concentration, which is 2.23-2.19 eV, while the absorbance tends to increase with increasing NaF concentration. FTIR characterization results show the absorbance of CIGS NaF is in the region of 4000 cm −1 –500 cm −1 . Based on the research, CIGS’s performance is improving as the NaF concentration increases. The greater the concentration of NaF, the greater the conductivity value and performance value of CIGS NaF, and vice versa, the smaller the concentration of NaF, the smaller the conductivity value and performance value of CIGS NaF.