I-Corps: Earth Abundant Antimony Chalcogenides for High Efficiency and Sustainable Thin Films Solar Cells

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is from a more cost-effective thin film technology to harvest sunlight and convert into electricity through the photovoltaic effect. The solar energy market is dominated by the crystalline silicon and cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film solar panels. The CdTe thin-film panels require high energy consumption during manufacturing, and are constrained by the toxicity of Cd and limited earth storage of Te. The project will explore the commercial opportunities of manufacturing antimony chalcogenides thin-film solar panel with lower cost, higher efficiency, and less energy consumption for residential, commercial and utility level application. The cost of the traditional thin-film solar panel could be significantly reduced by utilizing the knowledge of increasing the thin film solar cell efficiency and developing a cost-effective earth abundant antimony chalcogenide source. The reduced solar energy cost will further boost the application of solar energy in the US and provide alternative and sustainable clean energy for the whole of society. This I-Corps project is to discover which customer segment would value the photovoltaic efficiency of the Sb2Se3 thin film solar cells such that the commercialization potential will be realized. The Sb2Se3 is antimony based chalcogenides with orthorhombic structure (non-cubic structure), which are opposite to the traditional cubic chalcogenides thin film solar cells (i.e., CdTe, CuInGaSe). These orthorhombic materials exhibit unique crystal structure which consists of quasi-one-dimensional ribbons weakly bonded by van der Waals forces, leading it to be a promising absorber material for photovoltaic application due to its properties of the high absorption coefficient, approximately 1.1 eV bandgap optimal for single junction solar cells. Sb2Se3, an earth-abundant constituent, has low toxicity and uses a low energy manufacture process. These above factors make Sb2Se3 to be a promising candidate to replace Cd, Ga/In in the commercial thin-film solar modules. These Sb2Se3 can be compatible with the traditional high throughput CdTe thin film solar cells manufacturing process. The Sb2Se3 technology provides alternative options for t lower cost solar energy in the US with a healthier environment footprint. Through the I-Corps project, the team expects to further investigate the which customer segment values this technology for thin film solar cells market.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.