Thin film solar cells (TFSCs) represent a growing share of the photovoltaics market. Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and CdTe based TFSCs are the current leading absorber materials with device efficiencies approaching 20 percent. The relative non-abundance of indium and tellurium along with the toxicity of cadmium renders these materials unattractive for large scale commercial photovoltaics. Developing new Earth-abundant materials that effectively absorb the solar spectrum enables thinner, flexible solar cells while still maintaining high efficiencies. Properties of new thin-film solar absorbers will be discussed.
Ram Ravichandran received the BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ State University, 2007 and 2009, respectively. He is currently pursuing his PhD with the School of EECS, developing new earth-abundant, low-cost, high efficiency absorber materials for thin-film solar cells. His research interests include absorber materials development, optical characterization and device modeling of thin-film solar cells.