Effect of Resistivity of CdS Sintered Film on Photovoltaic Properties of Screen-Printed CdS/CdTe Solar Cell

The preparation conditions of low-resistance CdS sintered film and the effect of the resistance of CdS film on the photovoltaic properties of screen-printed CdS/CdTe solar cells were studied. CdS films were sintered in an alumina case with a perforated cover, and the rate of evaporation of CdCl₂ in a printed CdS film was found to be influenced by the area of the holes in the cover. The resistivity of CdS film was less than 0.5 Ω-cm for the samples sintered with the cover (cover area is 102 cm²) which had a hole area between 0.4 and 1.4 cm². CdS/CdTe solar cells prepared from CdS films with resistivities of about 0.3, 0.7 and 1.4 Ω-cm had conversion efficiencies of 8, 6 and 4% respectively. The decrease in efficiency was due to the increase in series resistance, which depended on the sheet resistance of the CdS film.