A Pathway to 7.5% Efficient Sb₂S₃ Thin Film Solar Cells by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis—Challenges and Prospects Towards Further Developments

Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy conversion is one of the leading technologies to meet present days’ energy demand and it is a green process, which is an important step towards pollution-free energy production. Sb-chalcogenide (Sb₂S₃, Sb₂Se₃, Sb₂(S,Se)₃) absorbers have prospect for booming development in the near future due to their binary composition, suitable bandgap (1.1-1.7 eV), high absorption coefficient (10₅cm_-1 at 450 nm), earth-abundant and non-toxic constituents. The solar cells with Sb₂(S,Se)₃ as a absorber layer have reached power conversion efficiency above 10% whereas the ones with Sb₂S₃ have attained around 8%. Most of the high efficiency Sb₂S₃ devices (7-8 %) utilize an absorber thickness of at least 200 nm, are fabricated by either spin coating, chemical bath deposition (CBD) or vacuum deposition techniques.<br/>This talk will discuss the recent results on Sb₂S₃ thin film solar cells development, show the pathway towards achieving a 7.5% efficient Sb₂S₃solar cell device, utilizing an absorber layer thickness of approximately 100 nm and average visible transmittance of around 30%, and give insights into their future applications. Additionally, we’ll explore cost-effective wet-chemical ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method offering unique resource saving and rapid approach to fabricate thin films and solar cells on large substrate areas.