Zonal efficiency limit calculation for nanostructured solar cells

Kupec J, Yu S, Witzigmann B (2010)

Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2010

Journal

Proceedings of SPIE Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Book Volume: 7597

Conference Proceedings Title: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

Event location: USA

ISBN: 9780819479938

DOI: 10.1117/12.841356

Abstract

We extend the well-known Shockley-Queisser detailed balance calculation for determining the efficiency limit of a solar cell to the case of strong local deviations of the optical power absorption as present in nano-structured photovoltaic devices. In addition, the simple assumption of perfect absorption of all incident light exceeding the bandgap is refined. We present a modified Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit calculation for nano-structured photovoltaic devices, it incorporates a rigorous wave optics calculation and spatially resolved generation of electron-hole pairs. We apply this method to core-shell single-junction InP nanowire array for the use in concentrator solar cells. We investigate the efficiency limits regarding the arrangement of the active regions within the wire. Our results indicate that in a nanowire array solar cell with low volume fill factor the efficiency limit can approach the values of planar thin-film devices. This observation indicates the occurrence of micro-concentration and underlines the necessity of a wave optics approach. The spatially and spectrally resolved analysis shows that generation on the surface of the nanowires is considerable, particularly with regard to high energy photons. Therefore, it is necessary to efficiently extract those carriers. © 2010 Copyright SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.

Authors with CRIS profile

Bernd Witzigmann

Involved external institutions

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ) / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich CH Switzerland (CH) Universität Kassel DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Kupec, J., Yu, S., & Witzigmann, B. (2010). Zonal efficiency limit calculation for nanostructured solar cells. In Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. USA.

MLA:

Kupec, Jan, Shuqing Yu, and Bernd Witzigmann. "Zonal efficiency limit calculation for nanostructured solar cells." Proceedings of the Physics and Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices XVIII, USA 2010.

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