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N. Bednar, N. Severino, N. Adamovic:
"Front grid optimization of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells using hybrid modeling approach";
Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 7 (2015), 0211201; 1 - 8.

This paper describes the hybrid approach to modeling and simulation of thin film solar cells with a
metal front grid. A 3D model with high aspect ratio of device thickness (100 s of nm) and its length
and width (mm and cm range) was divided into two coupled models with different number of spatial
dimensions (a 1D and a 3D model) on different length scales. The first one is modeling of the materia
level of solar cell which is then coupled with the second model taking into account the photovoltaic
(PV) cell/module geometry. It calculates the photo-current flow through the transparent electrode
dictated by the shape of metal front grid. This approach enables the separation of the technologydependent
material simulation from the front grid design simulation. In this paper, the use of the
developed model to simulate solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 technology is described. The
metallization in the form of parallel fingers was investigated and optimized for the described case
study. Finally, the efficiency of solar thin-film modules using optimized cells with different widths was
explored, thus enabling the tuning of the output voltage of the solar module while the power output
remains unchanged.

This paper describes the hybrid approach to modeling and simulation of thin film solar cells with a
metal front grid. A 3D model with high aspect ratio of device thickness (100 s of nm) and its length
and width (mm and cm range) was divided into two coupled models with different number of spatial
dimensions (a 1D and a 3D model) on different length scales. The first one is modeling of the materia
level of solar cell which is then coupled with the second model taking into account the photovoltaic
(PV) cell/module geometry. It calculates the photo-current flow through the transparent electrode
dictated by the shape of metal front grid. This approach enables the separation of the technologydependent
material simulation from the front grid design simulation. In this paper, the use of the
developed model to simulate solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 technology is described. The
metallization in the form of parallel fingers was investigated and optimized for the described case
study. Finally, the efficiency of solar thin-film modules using optimized cells with different widths was
explored, thus enabling the tuning of the output voltage of the solar module while the power output
remains unchanged.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4908064