Title: Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cells: from laboratory research to commercialization
Reporter: Professor Xudong Xiao, Wuhan University
Time: April 8, 2021 at 10:00 am
Location: Room 304, Block B, Physics Building
Organizers: Provincial Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials, Topological Functional Materials Research Center
Abstract
Cu(InGa)Se2 (CIGS) is a well-known copper-based chalcogenide compound semiconductor and has been successfully applied as photovoltaic absorber layer in thin film solar cells with a record efficiency of 23.4%. To achieve a high efficiency, both photocurrent and open circuit voltage must be optimized. In this talk, I will present various optimizations we have been working in the laboratory to increase the energy conversion efficiency. They include active control of Ga and In deposition to engineer the gradient of conduction band edge, active control of doping of Na to control its distribution inside the CIGS film, and optimization of recipe and deposition process of Cd-free Zn(O,S) buffer layer.
To commercialize the technology in China, we have taken an approach to start from production of manufacturing equipment. This allows us first to control the overall cost of the CIGS panel and second to facilitate the best matching between production line and processing technology. The progress of our flexible CIGS panels on polyimide substrate will be presented.
Introduction
Professor Xudong Xiao graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1986 and was admitted to the China-US Joint Postgraduate Program in Physics (CUSPEA) hosted by Mr. Li Zhengdao. In the same year, he went to the University of California at Berkeley to study and obtained a PhD in physics in 1992. Later, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. From 1994 to 2006, he was employed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor. From 2007 to 2019, he served as a professor in the Department of Physics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a full-time professor in the School of Physics and Technology of Wuhan University from 2020. Professor Xiao has long been engaged in surface science and thin-film solar cell research. He has published more than 170 papers in international mainstream academic journals such as Science and Physical Review Letters, cited more than 7,000 times, has an H factor of 46, and has nearly 60 Chinese and US patents. Professor Xiao is the standing director of the Chinese Vacuum Society, the standing director of the Chinese Energy Society, as well as the review expert of the Hong Kong Research and Funding Council and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He is also the "The International Journal of Modern Physics B (IJMPB) and Modern Physics Letters B (MPLB)" "Editor and deputy editor, Solar RRL, "Physics", "Journal of Chemical Physics", and reviewer of several academic journals. Professor Xiao has received many honors, including "Outstanding Young Scholars Abroad", "Famous Overseas Scholars" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and National Specially Appointed Experts.