Highly efficient SnS-based inverted planar heterojunction solar cell with ZnO ETL

Abstract

Abstract Tin Sulfide (SnS) is a promising absorber material for solar energy harvesting owing to the high absorption coefficient. Here, a novel inverted planar heterostructure of SnS based solar cell (ITO/NiOX/SnS/ZnO/Al) has been proposed for better efficiency among the different electron transport layers (ETLs), PCBM, C60, CeOX, and ZnO. The performance of the SnS based solar cell was theoretically studied by the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS) software. Initially, we have been observed the device performance with different ETL materials to find the better ETL material. The layer parameters of the HTL, absorber layer, and ETLs have been optimized to find out the best performance of the device. The device showed efficiencies of around 26.44%, 26.33%, and 26.38% with the ETLs PCBM, C60, and CeOX respectively. The maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ∼28.15% has been observed after incorporating ZnO ETL in the designed architecture of the SnS-based solar cell. Then, we have been investigated the performance of the SnS-based solar cell with ZnO ETL for the various value of carrier concentration, thickness, and bulk defect of the SnS absorber layer, defect of the interfaces of NiOX/SnS and SnS/ZnO, back metal contact’s work function, and its operating temperature. The variation of the different parameters has exhibited a substantial effect on the device performance. The VOC, JSC, FF, and PCE of the optimized SnS-based solar cell with ZnO ETL showed 0.8954 V, 37.316452 mA cm−2, 84.24%, and 28.15%, respectively. The visualization of the results indicates that ZnO might be a potential ETL for the highly efficient, low-cost inverted planar solar cells based on SnS.