Germanium subcells for multijunction GaInP/GaInAs/Ge solar cells

Journal Article · Mon Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Semiconductors

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1134/S106378261011028X· OSTI ID:21562168

Gudovskikh, A S ^[1]; Evstropov, V V; Lantratov, V M; Mintairov, S A; Timoshina, N Kh; Shvarts, M Z; Andreev, V M ^[2]

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1. Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg Academic University Nanotechnology Research and Education Center (Russian Federation)
2. Russian Academy of Sciences, Ioffe Physical Technical Institute (Russian Federation)

Photovoltaic converters based on n-GaInP/n-p-Ge heterostructures grown by the OMVPE under different conditions of formation of the p-n junction are studied. The heterostructures are intended for use as narrow-gap subcells of the GaInP/GaInAs/Ge three-junction solar cells. It is shown that, in Ge p-tn junctions, along with the diffusion mechanism, the tunneling mechanism of the current flow exists; therefore, the two-diode electrical equivalent circuit of the Ge p-n junction is used. The diode parameters are determined for both mechanisms from the analysis of both dark and 'light' current-voltage dependences. It is shown that the elimination of the component of the tunneling current allows one to increase the efficiency of the Ge subcell by {approx}1% with conversion of nonconcentrated solar radiation. The influence of the tunneling current on the efficiency of the Ge-based devices can be in practice reduced to zero at photogenerated current density of {approx}1.5 A/cm{sup 2} due to the use of the concentrated solar radiation.

• OSTI ID: 21562168
• Journal Information: Semiconductors, Vol. 44, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1134/S106378261011028X; Copyright (c) 2010 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.; ISSN 1063-7826
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CONVERSION
CURRENT DENSITY
CURRENTS
DIFFUSION
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
EQUIVALENT CIRCUITS
GERMANIUM
PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECT
P-N JUNCTIONS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR RADIATION
TUNNEL EFFECT
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
METALS
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
RADIATIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR JUNCTIONS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
STELLAR RADIATION