AN INVESTIGATION OF ARSENIC-DOPED CDS/ELECTROLYTE SOLAR-CELLS

An investigation of the photovoltaic properties of the cadmium sulphide semiconductor-liquid junction solar cell is presented. A well known chemical bath deposition technique was used for the deposition of thin film cadmium sulphide photoelectrodes. The photoelectrode was doped with trivalent arsenic in the concentration range 0.01-2 wt.%. Current-voltage and capacitance-voltage measurements were performed in a sulphide/polysulphide redox couple using a sensitized carbon counterelectrode. The performance of the electrochemical photovoltaic cell is examined in terms of the cell parameters, namely open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, series and shunt resistances, efficiency, fill factor, junction ideality factors and flat band potential. An improvement in cell performance has been observed for a cell formed with 0.25 wt.% CdS: As photoelectrode. The results are supported by spectral response and optical absorption studies. © 1990.