CuInSe₂ low‐cost thin‐film solar cells made from commercial elemental metallic nanoparticles

Abstract We present a method to prepare low‐cost CuInSe₂ (CIS) solar cells using commercially available low‐grade elemental Cu and In nanoparticles without prior synthesis of CIS nanoparticle precursors. A simple non‐vacuum ink deposition method is used where the nanoparticles are dispersed in alcohol and deposited onto a Mo/glass substrate in ambient atmosphere. Depending on the reduction and selenization steps, a compact CIS top layer comprising grains up to a few hundred nano‐ meters in size was observed to have formed using SEM and XRD. Complete solar cells were prepared by conventional methods, leading to a conversion efficiency well above 3%. (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)