Energy-yield prediction for II-VI-based thin-film tandem solar cells
Mailoa JP, Lee M, Peters IM, Buonassisi T, Panchula A, Weiss DN (2016)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2016
Journal
Book Volume: 9
Pages Range: 2644-2653
Journal Issue: 8
DOI: 10.1039/c6ee01778a
Abstract
Polycrystalline, thin-film tandem solar cells that leverage commercial II-VI semiconductor technologies as the top cell could overcome the practical conversion-efficiency limits of single-junction solar cells. However, it is unclear to what extent this class of tandems would outperform single-junction solar cells under realistic operating conditions in the field. In this paper we model the annual energy-yield of tandems with polycrystalline II-VI top cells with different band gap pairs and architectures under changing illumination spectra in different climates. We find that both two-terminal, high-band gap II-VI/CIGS and four-terminal CdTe/CIGS tandems offer energy-yield advantages in all climates commensurate with their AM1.5G efficiency improvements, up to [38%] relative. On the other hand, a two-terminal CdTe/GaSb tandem cell has only an [11%] annual energy-yield advantage in humid climate, because infrared light absorption due to atmospheric water vapor limits the bottom-cell contribution. In addition to narrowing the scope of future II-VI-based tandem R&D efforts, our methodology to rapidly assess tandem energy-yield should be easily generalizable to other material combinations.
Involved external institutions
First Solar
United States (USA) (US)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
United States (USA) (US)
United States (USA) (US)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
United States (USA) (US)
How to cite
APA:
Mailoa, J.P., Lee, M., Peters, I.M., Buonassisi, T., Panchula, A., & Weiss, D.N. (2016). Energy-yield prediction for II-VI-based thin-film tandem solar cells. Energy and Environmental Science, 9(8), 2644-2653. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6ee01778a
MLA:
Mailoa, Jonathan P., et al. "Energy-yield prediction for II-VI-based thin-film tandem solar cells." Energy and Environmental Science 9.8 (2016): 2644-2653.
BibTeX: Download