The prospective application of a graphene/MoS2 heterostructure in Si-HIT solar cells for higher efficiency

Abstract

The efficiency of a Si-HIT (heterojunction with intrinsic thin layer) solar cell based on a graphene/MoS₂ heterostructure has been optimized by varying the various parameters of graphene (Gr) as a transparent conducting electrode (TCE) and n-type molybdenum disulfide (n-MoS₂) as an emitter layer. The photovoltaic performance of a graphene/n-MoS₂/a-Si:H/p-cSi/Au single facial HIT solar cell has been studied using AFORS-HET v2.5 simulation software. A maximum output efficiency of 25.61% has been achieved. The obtained results were compared with the results from a commercially available a-Si:H layer and p-cSi wafer after simulation. Moreover, the dependence of the cell performance on changes in the TCE and the back contact materials has also been studied. Finally, it has been demonstrated that the graphene layer and n-MoS₂ layer could act as a TCE and an efficient emitter layer, respectively, in a n-MoS₂/p-cSi based HIT solar cell.