Physics of High Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells

AbstractWe have shown that high efficiency solar cells can be obtained by incorporating materials of different band gaps in a multijunction configuration. This configuration gives rise to high efficiency due to spectrum splitting as well as superior stability due to thin top cells.We have fabricated multijunction solar cells and acheived a 13% conversion efficiency using 1.7eV a-Si:F:H and 1.5 eV a-Si:Ge:F:H materials in a three-cell triple configuration. This device was deposited onto a stainless steel substrate coated with a back reflector; it also incorporates a microcrystalline p+ layer.The physical properties of each of the solar cell layers and their role in the device physics of a high efficiency solar cell will be described.

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High efficiency CIGS solar cells on flexible stainless steel substrate with SiO2 diffusion barrier layer

Solar Energy ◽

10.1016/j.solener.2021.11.006 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 230 ◽

pp. 1033-1039

Author(s):

Chen Zhang ◽

Tongqing Qi ◽

Wei Wang ◽

Chenchen Zhao ◽

Shuda Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stainless Steel ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Barrier Layer ◽

Diffusion Barrier ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Stainless Steel Substrate ◽

Steel Substrate ◽

Diffusion Barrier Layer ◽

Cigs Solar Cells

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Ambient air-processed mixed-ion perovskites for high-efficiency solar cells

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/c6ta06912f ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 (42) ◽

pp. 16536-16545 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Kári Sveinbjörnsson ◽

Kerttu Aitola ◽

Jinbao Zhang ◽

Malin B. Johansson ◽

Xiaoliang Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Perovskite Solar Cell ◽

Ambient Conditions ◽

Average Efficiency ◽

High Efficiency Solar Cells

A mixed-ion (FAPbI3)1−x(MAPbBr3)x perovskite solar cell was prepared under ambient conditions with an average efficiency of 17.6%.

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Growth of Thin μc-Si:H on Intrinsic a-Si:H for Solar Cells Application

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-452-889 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 452 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

P. Pemet ◽

M. Goetz ◽

H. Keppner ◽

A. Shah

Keyword(s):

Stainless Steel ◽

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Solar Cell Performance ◽

Hydrogenated Silicon ◽

Boron Doped ◽

High Efficiency Solar Cells ◽

Amorphous Substrates ◽

Interface Treatment

AbstractThe μc-SiC:H / a-Si:H junction can be considered to be a sub-system of a n/i/p solar cell. Optimised performance of this junction can be assumed to be a key feature for obtaining high efficiency solar cells.In this paper the authors present results on the conductivity of boron doped microcrystalline hydrogenated silicon ( μc-Si:H) thin films deposited on amorphous substrates (e.g. glass or glass/ a-Si:H). It is shown that, without any treatment of the substrate or of the underlying surface, the layers showed a strongly reduced conductivity. This indicates either a bad nucleation or a poor microcrystalline behaviour. By using an appropriate surface treatment of the substrate, a gain in photoconductivity of about three orders of magnitude could be obtained (σ > 3 S/cm at a layer thickness of 400Å). We conclude from this, that for thin type μc-Si:H layers the nucleation conditions are essential for obtaining best electric properties of the film w.r.t. solar cell performance.Based on these results, interface treatment was successfully implemented in n/i/p solar cells deposited on TCO coated glass and stainless steel. The results of these experiments are also presented.

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III–V Multijunction Solar Cell Integration with Silicon: Present Status, Challenges and Future Outlook

Energy Harvesting and Systems ◽

10.1515/ehs-2014-0012 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (3-4) ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Nikhil Jain ◽

Mantu K. Hudait

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Low Cost ◽

Si Substrate ◽

Future Outlook ◽

Si Solar Cells ◽

Multijunction Solar Cells ◽

The Future ◽

Multijunction Solar Cell

AbstractAchieving high-efficiency solar cells and at the same time driving down the cell cost has been among the key objectives for photovoltaic researchers to attain a lower levelized cost of energy (LCOE). While the performance of silicon (Si) based solar cells have almost saturated at an efficiency of ~25%, III–V compound semiconductor based solar cells have steadily shown performance improvement at ~1% (absolute) increase per year, with a recent record efficiency of 44.7%. Integration of such high-efficiency III–V multijunction solar cells on significantly cheaper and large area Si substrate has recently attracted immense interest to address the future LCOE roadmaps by unifying the high-efficiency merits of III–V materials with low-cost and abundance of Si. This review article will discuss the current progress in the development of III–V multijunction solar cell integration onto Si substrate. The current state-of-the-art for III–V-on-Si solar cells along with their theoretical performance projections is presented. Next, the key design criteria and the technical challenges associated with the integration of III–V multijunction solar cells on Si are reviewed. Different technological routes for integrating III–V solar cells on Si substrate through heteroepitaxial integration and via mechanical stacking approach are presented. The key merits and technical challenges for all of the till-date available technologies are summarized. Finally, the prospects, opportunities and future outlook toward further advancing the performance of III–V-on-Si multijunction solar cells are discussed. With the plummeting price of Si solar cells accompanied with the tremendous headroom available for improving the III–V solar cell efficiencies, the future prospects for successful integration of III–V solar cell technology onto Si substrate look very promising to unlock an era of next generation of high-efficiency and low-cost photovoltaics.

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Introduction, Past and Present Scenario of Solar Cell Materials

Materials Research Foundations - Materials for Solar Cell Technologies II ◽

10.21741/9781644901410-1 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-23

Author(s):

M. Rizwan

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Quantum Dot ◽

19Th Century ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Organic Hybrid ◽

2Nd Generation ◽

Multijunction Solar Cells ◽

The Stability

Solar cells convert sunlight into electricity directly. It is a reliable, non-toxic and pollution free source of electricity. Since 19th century researchers have been trying to investigate different materials for solar cell devices. Commercially, Si based solar are predominate in this field, however, with passage of time different materials have been reported. Solar cell techniques are based on three different generations. 1st generation is based on Si and 2nd generation includes thin-films of CuInGaSe, GaAs, CdTe and GaInP etc. whereas 3rd generation is based on organic, hybrid perovskites, quantum dot (QD)-sensitizers & dye-sensitizers solar cells. Among all these, the 3rd generation solar cells are the most efficient and more cost effective than 1nd and 2nd generation solar cells. The 2nd generation is less costly but also less efficient compared to 1st generation. 3rd generation faces degradation of the photovoltaic materials which is a major problem. In this chapter different reported materials since 19th century for solar cells are mentioned. The past and present scenarios of solar cells are discussed comprehensively. It is observed that Si-based and multijunction solar cells dominate the market. Although, theoretically it is reported that hybrid perovskites and quantum dot materials for solar cell are the most efficient materials for photovoltaic PV devices. In spite of the high efficiency the stability of organic, hybrid perovskites, QD-sensitizers &dye-sensitizer materials is a big challenge.

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Variable width quantum well-based high-efficiency solar cells: an investigation in Al0.56Ga0.44As solar cell

Journal of Photonics for Energy ◽

10.1117/1.jpe.7.015502 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 015502

Author(s):

Saeid Asgharizadeh ◽

Mahdi Javidnassab ◽

Asghar Asghari ◽

Mehdi Rezaei Keramaty

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Quantum Well ◽

High Efficiency ◽

High Efficiency Solar Cells

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A Brief Review of High Efficiency III-V Solar Cells for Space Application

Frontiers in Physics ◽

10.3389/fphy.2020.631925 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

J. Li ◽

A. Aierken ◽

Y. Liu ◽

Y. Zhuang ◽

X. Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Radiation Damage ◽

Radiation Resistance ◽

Radiation Effects ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Space Application ◽

Cell Structures ◽

Multijunction Solar Cells ◽

Multijunction Solar Cell

The demands for space solar cells are continuously increasing with the rapid development of space technologies and complex space missions. The space solar cells are facing more critical challenges than before: higher conversion efficiency and better radiation resistance. Being the main power supply in spacecrafts, III-V multijunction solar cells are the main focus for space application nowadays due to their high efficiency and super radiation resistance. In multijunction solar cell structure, the key to obtaining high crystal quality and increase cell efficiency is satisfying the lattice matching and bandgap matching conditions. New materials and new structures of high efficiency multijunction solar cell structures are continuously coming out with low-cost, lightweight, flexible, and high power-to-mass ratio features in recent years. In addition to the efficiency and other properties, radiation resistance is another sole criterion for space solar cells, therefore the radiation effects of solar cells and the radiation damage mechanism have both been widely studied fields for space solar cells over the last few decades. This review briefly summarized the research progress of III-V multijunction solar cells in recent years. Different types of cell structures, research results and radiation effects of these solar cell structures under different irradiation conditions are presented. Two main solar cell radiation damage evaluation models—the equivalent fluence method and displacement damage dose method—are introduced.

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High-Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells

MRS Bulletin ◽

10.1557/mrs2007.27 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 230-235 ◽

Cited By ~ 106

Author(s):

Frank Dimroth ◽

Sarah Kurtz

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Materials Science ◽

Photovoltaic Device ◽

New Materials ◽

Multijunction Solar Cells ◽

Multijunction Solar Cell ◽

High Absorption Coefficient ◽

High Absorption

AbstractThe efficiency of a solar cell can be increased by stacking multiple solar cells with a range of bandgap energies, resulting in a multijunction solar cell with a maximum the oretical efficiency limit of 86.8% III–V compound semiconductors are good candidates for fabricating such multijunction solar cells for two reasons: they can be grown with excellent material quality; and their bandgaps span a wide spectral range, mostly with direct bandgaps, implying a high absorption coefficient. These factors are the reason for the success of this technology, which has achieved 39% efficiency, the highest solar-to-electric conversion efficiency of any photovoltaic device to date. This article explores the materials science of today's high-efficiency multijunction cells and describes challenges associated with new materials developments and how they may lead to next-generation, multijunction solar cell concepts.

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High-Efficiency Solar Cells with a Planar Nanostructure Junction

Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology Open Access ◽

10.23880/nnoa-16000202 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Lucky Agarwal

Keyword(s):

Solar Cells ◽

Solar Cell ◽

Power Conversion Efficiency ◽

Conversion Efficiency ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Power Conversion ◽

Photovoltaic Devices ◽

Cell Structures ◽

High Efficiency Solar Cells ◽

Current Research Interest

Considering the current research interest in Organic / Inorganic (ZnO) hybrid solar cells structures in developing advanced photovoltaic devices, three different types of solar cell structures are proposed. In the proposed structures, hybrid solar cell composed of ZnO nanoparticles are used as an electron-acceptor material and PEDOT:PSS is intruded in between the nanoparticles, which reported to possesses power-conversion efficiency in excess of 8%. The use of p-ZnO layer results to improve the device performance on the rigid substrate. The power-conversion efficiency of the developed solar cell was found to be as high as 10% when measured under AM 1.5G illumination. Further, simulations have been carried out whose results are in line with experimental results.

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