Performance of Cu2O/ZnO solar cell prepared by two-step electrodeposition

Cu2O/ZnO solar cells with improved performance were fabricated by an inexpensive two-step process. The process involves potentiostatic deposition of ZnO on NESA glass (tin-oxide-coated glass) followed by galvanostatic deposition of Cu2O to form Cu2O/ZnO/NESA solar cells with a short-circuit photocurrent density of 2.08 mA cm-2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.19 V, a fill factor of 0.295 and conversion efficiency of 0.117%. The performance of the solar cells thus prepared is discussed in terms of the laminated structure, construction of the heterojunction, and the crystallinity and optical properties of each semiconductor.