CdS/CdTe THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS.

The fabrication methods for low cost and highly efficient efficient CdS/CdTe solar cells are investigated. A cell, prepared by epitaxial growth of CdS on a p-type CdTe single crystal, exhibits a solar conversion efficiency of 11. 7% for the active area (0. 51 cm**2) when illuminated by sunlight (68mW/cm**2). On the basis of this result, two types of thin-film solar cells are fabricated. One is CdS (made by chemical bath deposition)/CdTe (made by evaporation), and the other is CdS/TdTe (both made by sintering after printing). Efficiencies of more than 8% were attained in both thin-film solar cells (with active areas of 1 cm**2). These results suggest that practically useful solar cells can be manufactured from CdS/CdTe junction, though further investigations are necessary to obtain large-area cells.