Efficient Green Kesterite for Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Fuel Devices

Solar energy will be one of the main renewable energy sources, meeting the global energy needs while combating global warming challenges. To capitalise this opportunity, equally sustainable energy materials is required for realising efficient energy conversion. Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is such a green energy material which is cheap, nontoxic, and chemically stable, with decent optoelectronic properties promising for solar photovoltaic and solar fuel applications. In recent years, there has been a significant research effort on developing secret recipes that can solve the key obstacles to further improve the CZTS solar cell efficiency, while branching out to other potential applications such as solar fuel. In this work, our recent research progress on discovering “secret recipes” for kesterite solar cells will be reviewed. Translating the PV device design for efficient solar-to-fuel generation by using CZTS as photocathode for photoelectrochemical fuel production will also be discussed.