Simulation and analysis of solar cells based on the heterojunction of zinc oxide doped with aluminum (AZO) and cadmium telluride (CdTe) with the structure (Al/AZO/CdTe/NiO/Ni) using the Simulator of the capacitance of solar cells - 1 dimension (SCAPS-1D) has been presented in this paper. AZO is used as a window layer and Nickel oxide (NiO) has been introduced as a hole transport layer (HTL). Through the software, the effect of thickness, absorber (CdTe), and window (AZO) layers carrier concentration, operating temperature, and resistances (series and shunt) have been studied. Simulation results show that the solar cell performance can be greatly improved by adjusting the layer's thickness and carrier concentration, obtaining optimal values of 10 nm and 10 18 c m - 3 for the AZO layer, while for the CdTe layer they were 2 μm and 10 15 c m - 3 . The optimum series and shunt resistances are in the range of 1-3 Ω c m 2 and 1800-2200 Ω c m 2 respectively. A maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 14.2% is achieved with an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.74 V, short circuit current density (Jsc) of 26.15 m A / c m 2 and a fill factor (FF) of 72.83%, this shows AZO potential to be considered as an interesting material to replace CdS window layer.

In this paper, a solar cell based on ${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{O}}_3$/CdTe heterojunction was analyzed and optimized, for which the following structure of the Al/AZO/${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{O}}_3$/CdTe/NiO/Ni device was proposed, which was numerically simulated by the SCAPS 1-D software. Using the software, the effect of the thickness and carrier concentration of the absorber layer (CdTe) and the window layer (${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{O}}_3$) was analyzed, and the optimal value of these parameters was found to be 2 µm and ${10}^{15}{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ for the CdTe layer and 10 nm and ${10}^{19}{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$ for the ${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{O}}_3$ layer, respectively. The influence of the defect density of the ${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{O}}_3$/CdTe interface on the performance of the proposed cell was also analyzed, simulating from ${10}^{10}$ to ${10}^{16}$ ${\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{-2}$, obtaining better device performance at lower interface defect density. Another parameter analyzed was the operating temperature on the photovoltaic performance of the device, observing that the solar cell has a better performance at lower temperatures. Finally, a maximum optimized PCE of 19.87% is obtained with a V_oc = 0.85 V, J_sc = 28.45 $\mathrm{m}\mathrm{A}/{\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^2$, and FF = 82.03%, which makes the ${\mathrm{W}\mathrm{O}}_3$/CdTe heterojunction an interesting alternative for the development of CdTe-based solar cells.

In this work, the application of RF power in stepped mode during the growth process of CdTe films deposited on glass substrates at room temperature and their structural, morphological, and optical properties were studied. The working pressure and deposition time during deposition were 10 mTorr and 120 min, respectively, meanwhile the RF power was gradually varied from 30 W to 40 W. For comparison and reference, CdTe films with 30 W and 40 W (fixed power values) were also deposited, which resulted amorphous. The x-ray diffraction results of the films prepared with stepped RF power were polycrystalline with cubic structure and (111) as preferential orientation. The crystallite size of films changes from 16.6 to 29.2 nm as the rate of the stepped RF power increases. Raman spectra show that intensity of peaks located at 123, 140 and 164 cm-1 increase with the increased rate of stepped RF power, as well as the rms-roughness and grain size values increase from 0.8 nm to 1.6 nm and from 62.8 nm to 92.1 nm, respectively. The UV-Vis spectra show that the bandgap energy of the deposited CdTe films changes from 1.47 to 1.54 eV with the increased rate of stepped RF power. The obtained bandgap energy values of the CdTe films are adequate to be used as absorber material for photovoltaic applications into the ZnO/CdTe and CdS/CdTe solar cells.

This study, developed a CdS/Sb₂S₃-based solar cell structure using Sb₂S₃ as the absorber material and CdS as the window layer. The performance of the ITO/CdS/Sb₂S₃/Pt heterostructure was numerically analyzed using SCAPS-1D software. The investigation focused on the impact of the back contact’s work function, where platinum yielded the best results. Furthermore, the effects of absorber and window layer thickness, series and parallel resistances, total defect density, acceptor concentration, and operating temperature on V_oc, J_sc, FF, and overall solar cell efficiency were systematically examined. The evolution of peak power conversion efficiencies under AM1.5 conditions, as represented in the NREL efficiency chart, serves as a key benchmark for evaluating and comparing the performance of different photovoltaic technologies. Thin-film solar cells have achieved a maximum reported efficiency of 23.6% according to this standard. However, the structure proposed in this study achieves a remarkable efficiency of 26.83% under the AM1.5 G illumination spectrum. This result highlights the potential of the developed technology for high-performance solar energy conversion applications. Additionally, when the operating temperature varied from 10 °C to 60 °C, the efficiency decreased by only 2%, demonstrating the structure’s high thermal stability.

Antimony selenide (Sb ₂ Se ₃ ) is a promising absorber for thin-film photovoltaics because of its suitable band gap, strong optical absorption, simple binary composition, and comparatively low toxicity. In this work, a physics-guided SCAPS-1D analysis of a minimal ITO/CdS/Sb ₂ Se ₃ /Mo solar-cell architecture was performed to distinguish the influence of rear-contact energetics, layer thicknesses, bulk and interface defects, absorber doping, and selected parameter interactions. The Mo-based reference device yielded V _oc = 0.7094 V, J _sc = 41.53 mA cm ⁻² , FF = 82.73%, and PCE = 24.37% under AM1.5G illumination at 300 K. Rear-contact work-function analysis showed that low-work-function contacts strongly limit hole extraction and photovoltage, whereas Mo (Φ _m ≈4.95 eV) approaches a nearly non-blocking hole-contact condition within the idealized contact model. Increasing the Sb ₂ Se ₃ thickness mainly enhanced J _sc below approximately 1.0 µ m, whereas CdS thickness produced only minor changes over 0.02–0.20 µ m. A low-bulk-defect plateau was identified between approximately 10 ¹⁰ and 10 ¹³ cm ⁻³ , while N _t , _bulk approaching 10 ¹⁵ cm ⁻³ enhanced distributed Shockley–Read–Hall recombination and degraded performance. Increasing N _t , _int from 10 ¹⁰ to 10 ¹⁴ cm ⁻² reduced V _oc from 0.7094 to 0.6050 V and PCE from 24.37% to 20.50%, while Jsc remained comparatively insensitive. Interface states located approximately 0.3–0.6 eV above the highest valence-band edge produced the strongest losses, consistent with the calculated interface recombination current. The isolated acceptor-concentration sweep identified N _A ≈10 ¹⁶ cm ⁻³ as a favorable balance between junction electrostatics and carrier collection, while a limited, targeted two-factor interaction assessment revealed coupling between absorber thickness and bulk defects and between doping and rear-contact energetics. Comparison with recent experimental and numerical studies indicates that the 24.37% baseline represents an idealized numerical operating condition rather than a directly achievable efficiency. These results identify rear-contact selectivity, bulk-defect control, and CdS/Sb ₂ Se ₃ interface quality as key targets for further device development.