NOVELTY - Forming bifacial thin film photovoltaic cell involves providing a glass substrate having surface region covered by an intermediate layer; and forming a thin film photovoltaic cell on the surface region, where the cell comprises an anode overlying the intermediate layer. The anode comprises an aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) layer forming a first interface with intermediate layer and second interface with an absorber, and the AZO layer is configured to induce Fermi level pinning at the first interface and strain field from first interface to second interface.    USE - For forming bifacial thin film photovoltaic cell (claimed).    ADVANTAGE - Both the strain in the anode and Fermi level pinning can cause the internal electric field at the back electrode to diminish or even flip direction, which aid in the collection of holes at the back contact and thus improves cell efficiency. The thin film based photovoltaic cell has improved photon-electron conversion efficiency, which improves solar module efficiency.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Forming a bifacial thin film photovoltaic cell involves providing a glass substrate having surface region covered by an intermediate layer; and forming a thin film photovoltaic cell on the region, where the cell comprises an anode overlying the intermediate layer, an absorber over the anode, and a window layer and cathode over the absorber mediated by a buffer layer. The anode comprises an aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) layer forming a first interface with intermediate layer and second interface with the absorber, and the AZO layer is configured to induce Fermi level pinning at the first interface and strain field from first interface to second interface. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for a thin film solar device utilizing a strained AZO layer for anode-absorber interface comprising an optically transparent substrate; an intermediate layer overlying the transparent substrate; an anode layer comprising an aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) layer forming a first interface with the intermediate layer; an absorber comprising copper indium gallium diselenide with p-type dopant forming a second interface with the AZO layer; a buffer layer followed by a window layer overlying the absorber; and a cathode layer overlying the window layer, where the AZO layer induces a strain field in the anode layer and Fermi level pinning at the first interface for changing internal electric field at the second interface.