Fabrication and Characterization of Low Cost Solar Cells based on Earth Abundant Materials for Sustainable Photovoltaics

The low cost and low temperature electrochemical deposition technique was employed to grow Cu2O thin films and ZnO:Al thin films were deposited by d.c. magnetron sputtering in order to fabricate solar cells. The potentiostatic and galvanostatic electrodeposition modes were used to deposit the Cu2O thin films. Raman spectra of thin films have shown characteristic frequencies of crystalline Cu2O. The contact between Cu2O and Au is found to be an Ohmic contact. The devices grown by a potentiostatic mode have higher efficiency than those grown by a galvanostatic mode. The optimum thickness of Cu2O thin films as an absorber layer in solar cells. was found to be around 3 µm respect to a high efficiency. Flexible and light weight solar cell was fabricated on plastic substrate.