Copper-indium-gallium-selenium thin-film solar cell with flexible polyimide substrate and preparation method thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of solar cells, and provides a CIGS thin-film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate and a preparation method of the CIGS thin-film solar cell with the flexible polyimide substrate. The stainless steel film layer is obtained through deposition on the surface of the flexible polyimide substrate, and the deposition method comprises any one of a magnetron sputtering method and an evaporation method; the chromium metal film layer is obtained through deposition on the surface of the stainless steel film layer, and the deposition method comprises any one of a magnetron sputtering method and an evaporation method; the back electrode layer is made of a molybdenum metal material; the light absorption layer is made of a copper-indium-gallium-selenium material; a buffer layer; a window layer; and a transparent conductive layer. According to the scheme, the stainless steel thin film layer and the chromium metal thin film layer are arranged between the flexible polyimide substrate and the back electrode layer to serve as transition layers, stress can be effectively buffered, the film-base bonding performance of the flexible polyimide substrate and the solar cell film layer is improved, the film layer is prevented from being peeled off and cracked, and the service life of the solar cell is prolonged. And the service life of the solar cell is prolonged.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of solar cells, and in particular to a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on a flexible polyimide substrate and a preparation method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin film solar cells are the second generation of solar cell technology after crystalline silicon cells, and have the advantages of no attenuation, no hidden cracks, no hot spots, low temperature coefficient, good weak light effect, strong anti-shadow ability, small influence of the incident angle of sunlight on the power generation power, radiation resistance, high power generation per unit power, and uniform and beautiful appearance. Flexible polyimide substrate CIGS cells are lighter and have higher power generation per unit weight. In particular, CIGS cells on a flexible polyimide (PI) substrate have excellent specific power, making them have good application prospects in the fields of architecture, transportation, agriculture, military, and aerospace.

[0003] However, when preparing CIGS thin film cells on a flexible polyimide substrate, due to the large difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion, if the back electrode Mo layer is directly deposited on the polyimide substrate, large internal stress will be generated, resulting in cracking and peeling of the film layer, and very poor film-substrate bonding performance, thus seriously affecting the preparation of battery devices. In order to improve the bonding performance between the polyimide and the Mo layer, a transition layer is usually inserted between the polyimide and the Mo layer or a multi-layer Mo form is adopted to relieve the stress between the film and the substrate. The above methods all face problems such as complex transition layer structure, difficult process control, and poor stress improvement effect, resulting in increased cost and reduced yield, which is not conducive to mass production. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention provides a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on a flexible polyimide substrate and a preparation method thereof, so as to solve the defects of high cost and low yield of copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cells on a flexible polyimide substrate in the related art, which are not conducive to mass production. In the solution of the present application, by setting a stainless steel thin film layer and a chromium metal thin film layer between the flexible polyimide substrate and the back electrode layer, the bonding performance between the polyimide substrate and the back electrode Mo layer can be effectively improved, cracking and peeling of the film layer during the preparation of battery devices can be avoided, the reliability and service life of battery devices can be improved, and the transition layer of the present invention has a simple structure, easy process control, high yield, low cost, and is suitable for mass production.

[0005] The present invention provides a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on a flexible polyimide substrate, comprising:

[0006] A flexible polyimide substrate;

[0007] A stainless steel thin film layer, which is deposited on the surface of the flexible polyimide substrate, and the deposition method includes any one of magnetron sputtering and evaporation method;

[0008] A chromium metal thin film layer, which is deposited on the surface of the stainless steel thin film layer, and the deposition method includes any one of magnetron sputtering and evaporation method;

[0009] A back electrode layer, which is made of molybdenum metal;

[0010] A light absorption layer, which is made of copper indium gallium selenide;

[0011] A buffer layer;

[0012] A window layer;

[0013] A transparent conductive layer.

[0014] For the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate provided by the present invention, the material of the stainless steel thin film layer includes any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel, and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

[0015] For the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate provided by the present invention, the thickness of the flexible polyimide substrate is 10 microns to 100 microns.

[0016] For the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate provided by the present invention, the thickness of the stainless steel thin film layer is 20 nanometers to 200 nanometers.

[0017] For the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate provided by the present invention, the thickness of the chromium metal thin film layer is 40 nanometers to 200 nanometers.

[0018] The present invention also provides a preparation method of a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell, including:

[0019] Depositing and forming a stainless steel thin film layer on a flexible polyimide substrate;

[0020] Depositing and forming a chromium metal thin film layer on the stainless steel thin film layer;

[0021] Successively preparing a back electrode layer, a light absorption layer, a buffer layer, a window layer, and a transparent conductive layer on the surface of the chromium metal thin film layer to obtain a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell.

[0022] For the preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided by the present invention, the stainless steel thin film is prepared by magnetron sputtering method;

[0023] The target material used in the magnetron sputtering method is stainless steel, and the stainless steel includes any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel, and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

[0024] According to the method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided by the present invention, the stainless steel thin film is prepared by an evaporation method;

[0025] The evaporation raw material of the evaporation method is stainless steel particles, and the stainless steel particles include any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel, and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

[0026] According to the method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided by the present invention, the chromium metal thin film is prepared by a magnetron sputtering method;

[0027] The target material used in the magnetron sputtering method is metallic chromium, and the purity of the metallic chromium is ≥99.99%.

[0028] According to the method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided by the present invention, the chromium metal thin film is prepared by an evaporation method;

[0029] The raw material of the evaporation method is metallic chromium particles, and the purity of the metallic chromium is ≥99.99%.

[0030] The present invention also provides an electronic device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor. When the processor executes the program, it implements the method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell as described above.

[0031] The present invention also provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell as described above.

[0032] The present invention also provides a computer program product, including a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell as described above.

[0033] In the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate provided by the present invention, a stainless steel thin film layer and a chromium metal thin film layer are provided between the flexible polyimide substrate and the molybdenum back electrode layer. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the polyimide film is (12 - 22)×10 -6 / K; the coefficient of thermal expansion of stainless steel is (10 - 16)×10 -6 / K, which is close to that of the polyimide film. In addition, chromium is 6.2×10 -6 / K, and molybdenum is 5.2×10 -6 / K. Therefore, after forming the polyimide film / stainless steel thin film / chromium metal thin film / molybdenum back electrode layer thin film structure, the thermal expansion coefficients between adjacent film layers from the polyimide film upwards are close and decrease in sequence, which is obviously beneficial to reducing the stress between film layers. Although the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between stainless steel and chromium is slightly larger, since stainless steel also contains chromium element, the compatibility between the two materials and the diffusion of chromium element enable a good combination to be formed between the stainless steel thin film and the chromium thin film. In addition, the presence of the chromium metal thin film prevents the diffusion of harmful element iron in the stainless steel thin film to the molybdenum back electrode layer and the copper indium gallium selenide photoabsorption layer, avoiding the degradation of the battery device performance. Therefore, this structure can effectively improve the bonding performance between the flexible polyimide substrate and the molybdenum back electrode layer, avoid film layer cracking and peeling during the preparation process of the battery device, improve the reliability and service life of the battery device, and the transition layer structure of the present invention is simple, the process is easy to control, the yield is high, the cost is low, and it is suitable for mass production. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0035] Figure 1 is one of the schematic structural diagrams of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] [[ID=1(2]] Figure 2 is the schematic flow diagram of the preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 3 is the schematic physical structure diagram of the electronic device provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Wherein:

[0039] 101 - flexible polyimide substrate; 102 - stainless steel thin film layer; 103 - chromium metal thin film layer; 104 - back electrode layer; 105 - photoabsorption layer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0040] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the present invention with reference to the drawings in the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts based on the embodiments in the present invention belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 1 It is one of the schematic structural diagrams of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on a flexible polyimide substrate provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] As Figure 1 shown, this embodiment provides a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on a flexible polyimide substrate, including:

[0043] A flexible polyimide substrate 101;

[0044] A stainless steel thin film layer 102, which is deposited on the surface of the flexible polyimide substrate, and the deposition method includes any one of magnetron sputtering and evaporation;

[0045] A chromium metal thin film layer 103, which is deposited on the surface of the stainless steel thin film layer, and the deposition method includes any one of magnetron sputtering and evaporation;

[0046] A back electrode layer 104, which is made of molybdenum metal;

[0047] A light absorption layer 105, which is made of copper indium gallium selenide;

[0048] A buffer layer;

[0049] A window layer;

[0050] A transparent conductive layer.

[0051] In practical applications, a buffer layer, a window layer, and a transparent conductive layer may also be provided above the light absorption layer of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided in this embodiment.

[0052] In practical applications, the back electrode layer may be molybdenum, that is, the Mo element. The function of the back electrode layer is to act as the positive electrode of the solar cell device, effectively collect and transport carriers, and ensure the effective operation of the solar cell.

[0053] In the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate provided in this embodiment, a stainless steel thin film layer and a chromium metal thin film layer are arranged between the flexible polyimide substrate and the molybdenum back electrode layer, forming a polyimide film / stainless steel thin film / chromium metal thin film / molybdenum back electrode layer thin film structure. The thermal expansion coefficients between adjacent film layers from the polyimide film upwards are close and decrease in sequence, which is obviously beneficial to reducing the stress between the film layers. Although the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between stainless steel and chromium is slightly large, since stainless steel also contains chromium elements, the compatibility between the two materials and the diffusion of chromium elements enable a good combination to still be formed between the stainless steel thin film and the chromium thin film. In addition, the presence of the chromium metal thin film prevents the diffusion of harmful element iron in the stainless steel thin film to the molybdenum back electrode layer and the copper indium gallium selenide light absorption layer, avoiding the degradation of the performance of the battery device. Therefore, this structure can effectively improve the bonding performance between the flexible polyimide substrate and the back electrode layer, avoid the cracking and peeling of the film layers during the preparation process of the battery device, improve the reliability and service life of the battery device, and the transition layer structure of the present invention is simple, the process is easy to control, the yield rate is high, the cost is low, and it is suitable for mass production.

[0054] In an exemplary embodiment, the material of the stainless steel thin film layer includes any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel, and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

[0055] In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the flexible polyimide substrate is 10 microns to 100 microns.

[0056] In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the stainless steel thin film layer is 20 nanometers to 200 nanometers.

[0057] In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the chromium metal thin film layer is 40 nanometers to 200 nanometers.

[0058] Figure 2 It is a schematic flow chart of the preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0059] As Figure 2 shown, the present application also provides the preparation of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell described in any of the above embodiments, including the following steps:

[0060] Step 201, deposit and form a stainless steel thin film layer on the flexible polyimide substrate;

[0061] Step 202, deposit and form a chromium metal thin film layer on the stainless steel thin film layer;

[0062] Step 203, sequentially prepare a back electrode layer, a light absorption layer, a buffer layer, a window layer, and a transparent conductive layer on the surface of the chromium metal thin film layer to obtain a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell.

[0063] In an exemplary embodiment, the stainless steel thin film is prepared by magnetron sputtering;

[0064] The target material used in the magnetron sputtering method is stainless steel, and the stainless steel includes any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel, and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

[0065] In an exemplary embodiment, the stainless steel thin film is prepared by evaporation;

[0066] The evaporation raw material of the evaporation method is stainless steel particles, and the stainless steel particles include any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel, and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

[0067] In an exemplary embodiment, the chromium metal thin film is prepared by magnetron sputtering;

[0068] The target material used in the magnetron sputtering method is metallic chromium, and the purity of the metallic chromium is ≥99.99%.

[0069] In an exemplary embodiment, the chromium metal thin film is prepared by evaporation;

[0070] The raw material of the evaporation method is metallic chromium particles, and the purity of the metallic chromium is ≥99.99%.

[0071] The following uses a specific embodiment to illustrate the preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided by the present application, including the following steps:

[0072] After cleaning a 30-micron-thick flexible polyimide film substrate, a stainless steel thin film is prepared on the polyimide film by magnetron sputtering. The target material of the sputtering target is 304 austenitic stainless steel, and the background vacuum is ≤3×10 -3 Pa, the power density is 0.1 watt per square centimeter, the process gas pressure is 0.8 Pa, and the thickness of the deposited stainless steel thin film is 75 nm. Then, a chromium metal thin film is prepared on the stainless steel thin film by magnetron sputtering. The target material of the sputtering target is chromium metal, and the purity is 99.99%. The background vacuum is ≤3×10 -3 Pa, the power density is 0.1 watt per square centimeter, the process gas pressure is 0.8 Pa, and the thickness of the deposited chromium metal thin film is 150 nm. Thus, the transition layer is composed of a 304 austenitic stainless steel thin film / chromium metal thin film, and the total thickness of the transition layer is 225 nm. Subsequently, a Mo back electrode layer, a CIGS light absorption layer, a CdS buffer layer, an intrinsic ZnO window layer, and an AZO transparent conductive layer are sequentially prepared on the transition layer, and finally a flexible polyimide substrate copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell device is fabricated.

[0073] Figure 3 An exemplary structural schematic diagram of an electronic device is shown inFigure 3 As shown in the figure, the electronic device may include: a processor 310, a communications interface 320, a memory 330, and a communication bus 340. Among them, the processor 310, the communications interface 320, and the memory 330 communicate with each other through the communication bus 340. The processor 310 may call the logical instructions in the memory 330 to execute the method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin-film solar cell. The method includes:

[0074] Depositing and forming a stainless steel thin-film layer on a flexible polyimide substrate;

[0075] Depositing and forming a chromium metal thin-film layer on the stainless steel thin-film layer;

[0076] Preparing a back electrode layer, a light absorption layer, a buffer layer, a window layer, and a transparent conductive layer in sequence on the surface of the chromium metal thin-film layer to obtain a copper indium gallium selenide thin-film solar cell.

[0077] In addition, when the logical instructions in the above-mentioned memory 330 are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as an independent product, they may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a part of this technical solution, may be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods of the various embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage medium includes: various media such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), a random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc that can store program codes.

[0078] On the other hand, the present invention also provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes a computer program. The computer program can be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer can execute the method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin-film solar cell provided by the above-mentioned various methods. The method includes:

[0079] Depositing and forming a stainless steel thin-film layer on a flexible polyimide substrate;

[0080] Depositing and forming a chromium metal thin-film layer on the stainless steel thin-film layer;

[0081] A back electrode layer, a light absorption layer, a buffer layer, a window layer, and a transparent conductive layer are sequentially prepared on the surface of the chromium metal thin film layer to obtain a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell.

[0082] In another aspect, the present invention also provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, it is configured to execute the preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell provided by the above-mentioned various methods. The method includes:

[0083] Deposit and form a stainless steel thin film layer on a flexible polyimide substrate;

[0084] Deposit and form a chromium metal thin film layer on the stainless steel thin film layer;

[0085] A back electrode layer, a light absorption layer, a buffer layer, a window layer, and a transparent conductive layer are sequentially prepared on the surface of the chromium metal thin film layer to obtain a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell.

[0086] The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without creative labor.

[0087] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each embodiment can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, it can also be implemented by hardware. Based on this understanding, the above technical solutions, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disc, etc., including several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods of each embodiment or some parts of the embodiments.

[0088] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements for some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. Flexible copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on a polyimide substrate, characterized in that, Including: Flexible polyimide substrate; Stainless steel thin film layer, which is deposited on the surface of the flexible polyimide substrate, and the deposition method includes any one of magnetron sputtering and evaporation method; Chromium metal thin film layer, which is deposited on the surface of the stainless steel thin film layer, and the deposition method includes any one of magnetron sputtering and evaporation method; Back electrode layer, the back electrode layer is made of molybdenum metal; Light absorption layer, the light absorption layer is made of copper indium gallium selenide; Buffer layer; Window layer; Transparent conductive layer.

2. The copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on the flexible polyimide substrate according to claim 1, wherein The material of the stainless steel thin film layer includes any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

3. The copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell with a flexible polyimide substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thickness of the flexible polyimide substrate is 10 microns to 100 microns.

4. The copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on the flexible polyimide substrate according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thickness of the stainless steel thin film layer is 20 nanometers to 200 nanometers.

5. The copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell on the flexible polyimide substrate according to claim 1, wherein The thickness of the chromium metal thin film layer is 40 nanometers to 200 nanometers.

6. A method for preparing a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell, characterized in that, Including: Deposit and form a stainless steel thin film layer on the flexible polyimide substrate; Deposit and form a chromium metal thin film layer on the stainless steel thin film layer; Prepare a back electrode layer, a light absorption layer, a buffer layer, a window layer and a transparent conductive layer on the surface of the chromium metal thin film layer in sequence to obtain a copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell.

7. The preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell according to claim 6, characterized in that, The stainless steel thin film is prepared by magnetron sputtering method; The target material used in the magnetron sputtering method is stainless steel, and the stainless steel includes any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

8. The preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell according to claim 6, characterized in that, The stainless steel thin film is prepared by evaporation method; The evaporation raw material of the evaporation method is stainless steel particles, and the stainless steel particles include any one of ferritic stainless steel, martensitic stainless steel, austenitic stainless steel and austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel.

9. The preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell according to claim 6, characterized in that, The chromium metal thin film is prepared by magnetron sputtering method; The target material used in the magnetron sputtering method is metallic chromium, and the purity of the metallic chromium is ≥99.99%.

10. The preparation method of the copper indium gallium selenide thin film solar cell according to claim 6, characterized in that, The chromium metal thin film is prepared by evaporation method; The raw material of the evaporation method is metallic chromium particles, and the purity of the metallic chromium is ≥99.99%.

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