The GaAs/GaAs/Si solar cell – Towards current matching in an integrated two terminal tandem

Ren Z, Liu H, Liu Z, Tan CS, Aberle AG, Buonassisi T, Peters IM (2017)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2017

Journal

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells Elsevier

Book Volume: 160

Pages Range: 94-100

DOI: 10.1016/j.solmat.2016.10.031

Abstract

Non-concentrating tandem solar cells offer the potential to increase conversion efficiencies beyond 30%. Of particular interest are configurations with a silicon bottom cell – to leverage existing manufacturing infrastructure – and III-V compound semiconductor top cells to combine high efficiencies with long-term stability and experience in applications. In this work we investigate the GaAs/GaAs/Si triple-junction architecture. GaAs and Si form a non-ideal bandgap combination, which poses a challenge to the current matching requirement. As band-to-band absorption in GaAs is almost two thirds of that in Si, absorption can be balanced by replacing the GaAs top junction with a GaAs/GaAs double junction. This opens up a possibility for an integrated two terminal solar cell for the GaAs-Si material system. In this study, we numerically evaluate the efficiency and energy yield potential of the GaAs/GaAs/Si triple-junction architecture. We find that, with state-of-the-art material quality, the GaAs/GaAs/Si architecture has the potential to achieve 33.0% efficiency, and harvesting efficiencies between 31.4% and 32.1%. We fabricated a GaAs/GaAs/Si four-terminal tandem solar cell with a mathematically combined efficiency of 20.4%.

Involved external institutions

Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) SG Singapore (SG) National University of Singapore (NUS) SG Singapore (SG)

How to cite

APA:

Ren, Z., Liu, H., Liu, Z., Tan, C.S., Aberle, A.G., Buonassisi, T., & Peters, I.M. (2017). The GaAs/GaAs/Si solar cell – Towards current matching in an integrated two terminal tandem. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, 160, 94-100. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2016.10.031

MLA:

Ren, Zekun, et al. "The GaAs/GaAs/Si solar cell – Towards current matching in an integrated two terminal tandem." Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 160 (2017): 94-100.

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