The imminent threat of a climate change crisis is clear, and given its urgency,
Solar panels are composed of photovoltaicelements, and materials that are exposed to light generate an electric current. Modern thin-film solar cells are composed of micrometer or submicron thick layers of photovoltaic material, which allows them to be integrated into flexible and lightweight panels for use in a variety of substrates.
However, this process has somerestrictions. Professor Joon Ho Kim from Incheon National University, who led the study, explains: “Most thin-film solar cells contain toxic and expensive elements, which limit the applications of solar cells.” Professor Kim and his team worked to produce a solar cell using environmentally friendly natural materials that are easy to mine and inexpensive to produce.
Scientists have paid attention to environmentalpure kesterite, a natural mineral that acts as a photon absorber. Most solar cells use a buffer layer of cadmium sulfide (CdS) to optimize the performance of the kesterite. The pollution associated with creating these buffers and the toxicity of cadmium are undesirable for creating green solar cells.
To solve this problem, researchers studiedA promising alternative to CdS is “ZTO buffers.” These are glass substrates coated with zinc and tin oxide. To further improve the solar cell's efficiency, the team equalized the electron energy levels between the kesterite absorber layer and the ZTO buffer layer. This allowed for improved electron circulation between the two layers, increasing cell voltage and overall performance.
This method is the first to achieve such high productivity using extremely environmentally friendly, affordable and inexpensive materials.
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