“CdTe-Based Solar Cells: Science and Impact”

Jim Sites

Monday, November 7th at 4PM

120 Engineering  (Hammond Auditorium)

Photovoltaic generation of electricity continues to expand at an impressive rate, driven by favorable economics as well as climate-change concerns. Thin-film, polycrystalline CdTe technology is responsible for a large fraction of the growth in the U.S. Interdisciplinary research at CSU is addressing several issues that currently limit the efficiency of cells and panels that utilize CdTe and its alloys. Two of the key issues for higher performance are the passivation of grain boundaries and interfaces and the energy-band alignments at the contacts, especially those opposite the illuminated side of a cell. [Read More…]