Numerical study of metal oxide heterojunction solar cells

Metal oxide (MO) semiconductors have great potential for photovoltaic (PV) application owing to some optimal bandgaps and a variety of possible combinations of the materials. The progress is limited due to lack of high-quality materials, reliable process and theoretical study and models which can guide the development. This paper reports on the numerical modelling of MO semiconductor PV cells. The effects of the bandgap structure, material, doping concentration and layer thickness on the proposed oxide solar cells have been investigated. It was found that, in an ideal case of no defects and no interface states, wide-gap MO, CuO and Cu2O can form a heterostructure n+/p/p+ cell with efficiency up to 28.6%, demonstrating great potential for development.