Improvement in the light conversion efficiency of silicon solar cell by spin coating of CuO, ZnO nanoparticles and CuO/ZnO mixed metal nanocomposite material

Synthesis of pure Zinc oxide (ZnO), Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles (NPs) and their (ZnO/CuO) nanocomposites (NCs) in 1:1 M ratio were successfully prepared by co-precipitation method. The structural properties of the as synthesized nanoparticles and nanocomposite materials were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Optical band-gap studies were done using UV–Visible absorption spectroscopy. Photovoltaic properties of pure ZnO NPs, CuO NPs and ZnO/CuO NCs coated over a single-crystalline silicon solar cell were carried out to compare improvement of light-conversion efficiency in coated solar cell. The maximum light conversion efficiencies were found to be of 8.02% for CuO (3 mg/ml concentration) and 7.28% for ZnO NPs (3 mg/ml concentration), whereas that of mixed metal nanocomposite CuO/ZnO NCs was found to be 7.62%. at very low concentration of 1 mg/ml. This indicates with low concentration of mixed metal NCs an improvement in light efficiency can be obtained. The enhancement in efficiency could be due to formation of p - n heterojunction by CuO/ZnO NCs composites which enhances the number of electrons and holes participating in conduction on the surface. The silica solar cell coated with CuO/ZnO nanocomposite shows high efficiency at lower concentrations compared to ZnO and CuO nanoparticles The maximum photon-to-current conversion efficiency achieved is 7.62% at low concentration (1 mg/ml. Thus this study proves that CuO/ZnO nanocomposite material as a potential candidate for future photovoltaic applications. [Display omitted] •Synthesis of pure Copper oxide and Zinc Oxide nanoparticles by one pot chemical reduction.•Synthesis of nanocomposite of CuO/ZnO by simple co-precipitation.•The improvement in solar efficiency by simple spin coating over bare silicon solar cell were obtained.•A comparative study on improvement in solar efficiency in silicon solar cell from pure to nanocomposite material has been evaluated.