Simulation and analysis of CIGS-Solar cell using SCAPS-1D under the influence of defect density, CIGS thickness, and temperature

This research investigates the performance of a CIGS-solar cell structure ZnO/ZnS/SDL/CIGS/Sb<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>S<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</inf> configuration, utilizing SCAPS-1D to analyze the influence of N<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</inf> (CIGS defect density), absorber layer thickness, and temperature variations on solar cell operation. Our findings highlight the critical need to minimize defect densities to below 10¹³ cm⁻³ and to optimize absorber thickness to exceed 1000 nm to achieve high PCE (power conversion efficiency), with maximum values exceeding 35%. Additionally, our temperature sensitivity analysis indicates a direct relationship between increased defect densities and efficiency degradation at higher temperatures. These results highlight the importance of advanced material optimization and thermal stability in enhancing the performance of CIGS-based solar cells, thereby resulting in the advancement of high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) technologies.