EFFECTS OF CADMIUM PARTICLE-SIZE ON PROPERTIES OF SINTERED CDS CDTE THIN-FILM SOLAR-CELLS

Transparent CdS films with low electrical resistivity have been prepared by coating a CdS slurry on a glass substrate followed by sintering in nitrogen. CdTe slurries consisting of Te powder, Cd powders of various particle sizes, and an appropriate amount of propylene glycol were coated on the sintered CdS films and were sintered in nitrogen to prepare sintered CdS/CdTe solar cells. The efficiency of a sintered CdS/CdTe solar cell increases with increasing Cd particle size up to 3-4-mu-m and then decreases with a further increase in the Cd particle size. The microstructures of the sintered CdTe layer and of the cross-section of the CdS/CdTe solar cell show that the structures are the most compact in a solar cell which started with a Cd particle size of 3-4-mu-m. A sintered CdS/CdTe solar cell that was fabricated by using a Cd powder with an average particle size of approximately 4-mu-m shows a solar efficiency of 12% when measured under a solar intensity of 80 mW cm-2.