Nanostructuring for enhanced absorption and carrier collection in CZTS-based solar cells: Coupled optical and electrical modeling

•A coupled electrical and optical model is established to investigate CZTS solar cells.•Different CZTS architectures showed different optical activities.•The CZTS nanotubes showed the highest generation rate of charge carriers.•The CZTS nanotubes and nanorods showed the highest power conversion efficiencies.•The FF and Voc are independent of the CZTS architecture.

Earth-abundant Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is being considered as a potential photon-absorbing layer for low cost thin film solar cells. Nanostructured light trapping is recently investigated as a technique for enhancing the efficiency of CZTS solar cells. Herein, we used coupled electrical and optical modeling for different combinations of nanostructured CZTS solar cells to guide optimization of such nanostructures. The model is validated by a comparison of simulated I-V curves with previously reported experimental data. A very good agreement is achieved. Simulations are used to demonstrate that nanostructures can be tailored to maximize the absorption, carrier generation, carrier collection, and efficiency in CZTS solar cells. All proposed nanostructured solar cells showed enhancement in the overall conversion efficiency.