In Ultrathin Layers, NREL Researchers Find a Path to Better Materials

For more than three decades, photovoltaic researchers have known that the addition of a single chemical—cadmium chloride—creates better-performing cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells. But they have not understood exactly why—until now. The answer has implications for materials science that stretch well beyond solar cells. The light-absorbing layers in CdTe solar cells are composed of a thin film of material, about 10–100 times thinner than a human hair. Lots of modern devices, from solar cel...