Simulation of Heat Loss in CZTSSe Thin Film Solar Cells: A Coupled Optical-Electrical-Thermal Modeling

Abstract A coupled optical-electrical-thermal modeling has been developed to investigate the heat generation and dissipation in Cu2ZnSn4SxSe4−x thin film solar cells. Five heat generation factors: Thermalization, Joule heat, Peltier heat, Surface Recombination heat, and non-radiative recombination heat (Shockley-Read-Hall and Auger) as well as two heat dissipation factors convective and radiative cooling were calculated and displayed in 2 and 3 dimensional maps. Thermalization is the dominant heat generation factor in the cell independent of the voltage. The non-radiative recombination heat and Joule heat depend on voltage. Apart from these bulk heating factors, the surface recombination heat and Peltier heat were also investigated. The surface recombination heat is higher at open-circuited voltage (V=Voc) compared to at V = 0 while the Peltier heat is zero at V=Voc which can be explained by looking at the energy band diagrams at these voltages. The total heat generation has a small gradient across the cell thickness (