A CdS thin film buffer layer has been widely used as conventional n-type heterojunction partner both in established and emerging thin film photovoltaic devices. In this study, we perform numerical simulation to elucidate the influence of electrical properties of the CdS buffer layer, essentially in terms of carrier mobility and carrier concentration on the performance of SLG/Mo/p-Absorber/n-CdS/n-ZnO/Ag configured thin film photovoltaic devices, by using the Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator (SCAPS-1D). A wide range of p-type absorber layers with a band gap from 0.9 to 1.7 eV and electron affinity from 3.7 to 4.7 eV have been considered in this simulation study. For an ideal absorber layer (no defect), the carrier mobility and carrier concentration of CdS buffer layer do not significantly alter the maximum attainable efficiency. Generally, it was revealed that for an absorber layer with a conduction band offset (CBO) that is more than 0.3 eV, Jsc is strongly dependent on the carrier mobility and carrier concentration of the CdS buffer layer, whereas Voc is predominantly dependent on the back contact barrier height. However, as the bulk defect density of the absorber layer is increased from 10¹⁴ to 10¹⁸ cm⁻³, a CdS buffer layer with higher carrier mobility and carrier concentration is an imperative requirement to a yield device with higher conversion efficiency and a larger band gap-CBO window for realization of a functional device. Most tellingly, simulation outcomes from this study reveal that electrical properties of the CdS buffer layer play a decisive role in determining the progress of emerging p-type photo-absorber layer materials, particularly during the embryonic device development stage.

Recent years have illustrated the significantly pervasive interest in transparent antennas. The number and the popularity of transparent antenna applications have escalated dramatically. Although antenna applications are diverse and available across multiple platforms, some of these antennas are unsuitable for practical usage, particularly in cases associated with renewable energy. As such, this study presents the review of related articles pertaining to transparent antennas across a range of platforms to identify their best practices. The methods applied in prior research work within this domain were identified. Relevant articles published between 2015 and September 2020 were gathered from four major databases: Science Direct, Web of Science (WOS), IEEE Xplore, and Scopus. The identified indicators were considered as broad and reliable to cover this field of literature. The articles (n=81) were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. This paper concentrates on the present views and opportunities to further understand the research segment of transparent antenna.