Flexible and Semi-Transparent Ultra-Thin CIGSe Solar Cells Prepared on Ultra-Thin Glass Substrate: A Key to Flexible Bifacial Photovoltaic Applications

For applications to semi-transparent and/or bifacial solar cells in building-integrated photovoltaics and building-applied photovoltaics, studies are underway to reduce the processing cost and time by decreasing the thickness of Cu(In_1−x,Ga_x)Se₂ (CIGSe) absorber to the ultra-thin scale (≤500 nm). To dynamically and affordably meet the growing demand for electric power, daylighting, and architectural aesthetics of buildings in urban area, flexible semi-transparent ultra-thin (F-STUT) CIGSe solar cells are proposed on flexible ultra-thin glass (UTG) and compared with rigid semi-transparent ultra-thin (STUT) CIGSe solar cells fabricated on soda-lime glass (SLG). At all the tested deposition temperatures of CIGSe, the F-STUT CIGSe solar cells exhibit superior performance compared to the rigid STUT CIGSe solar cells. Furthermore, through realistic measurement under ≈1.3-sun illumination, maximum bifacial power conversion efficiency of 11.90% and 13.23% are obtained for SLG and UTG, respectively. The major advantages of using UTG instead of SLG are not only the intrinsic characteristics of UTG, such as flexibility and high transmittance, but also collateral benefits such as the larger CIGSe grain size at the deposition temperature, better CIGSe crystalline quality, more precise controllability of the alkali element, and reduced thickness of the interfacial GaO_x layer, which enhance the photovoltaic parameters.