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 Oregon 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.