Solid State Photovoltaic Cell Made from n-Cu₂O Thin Films and Activated Carbon Upper Electrode

For the first time a thin film solar cell was prepared by using n-type Cu₂O layers and coconut shell activated carbon. A simple method was used to prepare the Cu2O layers by boiling the copper plates in a CuSO₄ (10⁻³M) Solution [1]. The band gap of n-Cu₂O was ≍ 1.9eV. The coconut shell charcoal was activated by the steam method and it served as an upper electrode of this particular photoelectrode. In this paper the diffuse reflectance spectra, photocurrent action spectra, V-I characteristics and stability curves were used to discuss the characteristics of solid state thin film solar cell. The power efficiency was largely influenced by the surface area of the coconut shell activated carbon (CAC). The maximum power efficiency of 2.5% was observed when the surface area of the CAC powder was 1157.2m²/g as the upper electrode with the thin film solar cell.