A numerical simulation of novel solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell based on kesterite as the electrolyte
Ahmad Sharmi Abdullah, F. Ahmad, Mohd Halim Irwan Ibrahim, Mohd Haniff Ibrahim, M.H. Ibrahim, M.H. Ibrahim
Abstract
This paper explores the potential of four kesterite and stannite compounds: copper iron tin sulfide (CFTS), copper nitride tin sulfide (CNTS), copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS), and copper zinc tin selenide (CTZSe), as solid-state p-type materials to replace the liquid electrolyte in dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) structures. Using the SCAPS 1-D numerical simulator, we incorporate zinc oxysulfide (ZnOS) as the electron transport layer (ETL) in the proposed DSSC configuration: FTO/ZnOS/N719 dye/kesterite/Au. Our simulations reveal outstanding performance with a 200 nm thickness of CZTSe as the solid-state electrolyte, achieving a conversion efficiency of 12.91 %. This efficiency surpasses that of CZTS (12.20 %), CNTS (12.47 %), and CFTS (5.53 %) at a selected 400 nm dye thickness. In comparison to previous simulation and experimental results, our proposed configurations represent a promising alternative for advancing solid-state DSSC technology. Furthermore, we investigate the influence of kesterite thickness (ranging from 50 nm to 300 nm) with a constant defect density of 1 × 1014 cm−3 on DSSC performance. Our findings indicate almost constant conversion efficiency, with only around a 0.2 % change, demonstrating stable DSSC operation.