Parameters optimization of CIGS solar cell using 2D physical modeling

•Simulation of a CIGS solar cell using Sivaco-atlas software.•Optimization of material properties of CIGS solar cell with respect to the cell’s efficiency.•An increase of the conversion efficiency of about 3.24% was observed after optimization. In this study, the CIGS thin film solar cell has been investigated using the two-dimensional device simulator Silvaco-Atlas. Thickness and carrier concentration effects of the cell structure were studied to optimize the solar cell performances. Our results revealed high efficiency for a cell structure of 0.15µm ZnO:Al, 0.06µm i-ZnO, 0.04µm CdS and 3µm CIGS. The carrier concentration effects of the different layers were also studied revealing a better performance for CIGS doping concentration of 1018cm−3. The optimized CIGS solar cell characteristics were a current density of short circuit Jsc=38.75mA/cm2, an open-circuit voltage V0C=804.03mV, a fill factor FF=74.48% and an efficiency η=23.20%. This result is in good agreement with experimental efficiencies found in literature.