Method for manufacturing light absorption layer of thin film solar cell and thin film solar cell using the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10096739-B2
Application number	US-201414782773-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2014
Priority date	Apr 14, 2014
Publication date	Oct 9, 2018
Grant date	Oct 9, 2018

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a light absorption layer of a thin film solar cell in in a method for manufacturing a solar cell transparent electrode may be provided that includes: manufacturing a Ib group element-VIa group element binary system nano particle (s 100 ); manufacturing a binary system nano particle slurry of the Ib group element-VIa group element by adding a solvent, binder and a solution precursor including Va group element to the Ib group element-VIa group element binary system nano particle (s 200 ); distributing and mixing the binary system nano particle slurry of the Ib group element-VIa group element (s 300 ); coating the binary system nano particle slurry of the Ib group element-VIa group element on the rear electrode layer 200 (s 400 ); and performing a heat treatment process on the coated nano particle slurry by supplying the VIa group element (s 500 ).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a light absorption layer of a thin film solar cell, the method comprising
i) manufacturing Ib group element-VIa group element binary system nano particles;
ii) adding a solvent, a binder and a solution precursor comprising a Va group element to the Ib group element-VIa group element binary system nano particles to form a slurry, wherein the mixing ratio by weight of the Ib group element-VIa group element binary system nano particles: the solvent: the solution precursor and the binder is 1:2 to 6:1 to 2;
iii) mixing the binary system nano particle slurry of the Ib group element-VIa group element;
iv) coating the binary system nano particle slurry of the Ib group element-VIa group element on a rear electrode layer of the solar cell; and
v) performing a heat treatment process on the coated nano particle slurry while supplying the VIa group element.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the manufacturing the Ib group element-VIa group element binary system nano particles, the Ib group element is copper (Cu) or silver (Ag), and the VIa group element is at least one selected from the group consisting of sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the manufacturing the Ib group element-VIa group element binary system nano particles, the Ib group element-VIa group element binary system nano particles are manufactured by at least one method selected from the group consisting of a low temperature colloidal method, a solvent thermal method, a microwave method, and an ultrasonic synthesis method.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is selected from the group consisting of ethanol, methoxyethanol, methanol, phentanol, propanol, and butanol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Va group element comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of antimony (Sb), phosphorus (P), and arsenic (As).

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the Va group element comprises antimony (Sb) in a form selected from the group consisting of antimony acetate, antimony chloride, and a mixture thereof.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the binder is a chelating agent.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the chelating agent is selected from the group consisting of monoethanolamine (MEA), diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), ethylenediamine, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA), glycoletherdiaminetetraacetic acid (GEDTA), triethylenetetraminehexaacetic acid (TTHA), hydroxyethyliminodiacetic acid (HIDA) and dihydroxyethylglycine (DHEG).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mixing step comprises applying an ultrasonic wave for 30 to 120 minutes.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the coating step is not performed under vacuum.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the coating step comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of: doctor blade coating, spin coating, spray coating, ultrasonic spraying, screen printing, inkjet printing, and dip coating.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the doctor blade coating is performed by setting heights of a coating substrate and a doctor blade to 20 to 150 μm.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising drying the rear electrode layer after the coating step.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein, the VIa group element comprises sulfur (S) or selenium (Se).

15. A light absorption layer of a thin film solar cell,
wherein the light absorption layer is installed in the thin film solar cell and comprises a Ib group element, a VIa group element, and a Va group element; and
wherein the light absorption layer is manufactured by the manufacturing method of claim 1 .

16. A method for manufacturing a thin film solar cell, the method comprising:
(i) providing a substrate;
(ii) forming a rear electrode layer on the substrate;
(iii) forming a light absorption layer on the rear electrode layer;
(iv) forming a buffer layer on the light absorption layer; and
(v) forming a transparent electrode layer on the buffer layer, the transparent electrode layer comprising an oxide selected from the group consisting of: zinc oxide, gallium oxide, aluminum oxide, indium oxide, lead oxide, copper oxide, titanium oxide, tin oxide, iron oxide, tin dioxide, and indium tin oxide,
wherein the forming the light absorption layer on the rear electrode layer is performed by the method of claim 1 .

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the rear electrode layer comprises at least any one selected from the group consisting of molybdenum (Mo), chrome (Cr), and tungsten (W).

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein, the buffer layer is formed to comprise at least any one selected from the group consisting of: CdS, CdZnS, ZnS, Zn(S,O), Zn(OH,S), ZnS(O,OH), ZnSe, ZnInS, ZnInSe, ZnMgO, Zn(Se,OH), ZnSnO, ZnO, InSe, InOH, In(OH,S), In(OOH,S), and In(S,O).

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the buffer layer is formed by at least any one selected from the group consisting of chemical bath deposition (CBD), electrodeposition, co-evaporation, sputtering, atomic layer epitaxy, atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), spray pyrolysis, ion layer gas reaction (ILGAR), and pulsed laser deposition.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein, the transparent electrode layer on the buffer layer is formed in a thin film, and the film comprises platinum or gold.

21. The method of claim 16 , wherein forming the transparent electrode layer on the buffer layer is accomplished by one selected from the group consisting of: Radio Frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering, Direct Current (DC) magnetron sputtering, Mid-Frequency (MF) magnetron sputtering, thermal evaporation, Electron-beam (E-beam) evaporation, and thermal spraying.

22. A thin film solar cell comprising: a substrate; a rear electrode layer which is formed on the substrate; a light absorption layer which is formed on the rear electrode layer; a buffer layer which is formed on the light absorption layer; and a transparent electrode layer which is formed on the buffer layer, wherein the light absorption layer is manufactured by the manufacturing method of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Korea Inst Energy Res

Inventors

• Cho Ara
• Yoon Kyung Hoon
• Ahn Se Jin
• Yun Jae Ho
• Gwak Jihye
• Shin Kee Shik
• Eo Young Joo
• Ahn Seoung Kyu
• Cho Jun Sik
• You Jin Su
• Park Joo Hyung
• Kim Ki Hwan

Classifications

• Y02E10/52

  PV systems with concentrators · CPC title

• H01L31/04

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/208 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/032

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10F77/12 Primary

  Active materials · CPC title