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Pathway to 50% Efficient Inverted Metamorphic Concentrator Solar Cells

Conference ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5001425· OSTI ID:1395454
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  1. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
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Series-connected five (5J) and six junction (6J) concentrator solar cell strategies have the realistic potential to exceed 50% efficiency to enable low-cost CPV systems. We propose three strategies for developing a practical 6J device. We have overcome many of the challenges required to build such concentrator solar cell devices: We have developed 2.1 eV AlGaInP, 1.7 eV AlGaAs, and 1.7 eV GaInAsP junctions with external radiative efficiency greater than 0.1%. We have developed a transparent tunnel junction that absorbs minimal light intended for the second junction yet resists degradation under thermal load. We have developed metamorphic grades from the GaAs to the InP lattice constant that are transparent to sub-GaAs bandgap light. We have grown and compared low bandgap junctions (0.7eV - 1.2 eV) using metamorphic GaInAs, metamorphic GaInAsP, and GaInAsP lattice-matched to InP. And finally, we have demonstrated excellent performance in a high voltage, low current 4 junction inverted metamorphic device using 2.1, 1.7, 1.4, and 1.1 eV junctions with over 8.7 mA/cm2 one-sun current density that operates up to 1000 suns without tunnel junction failure.
Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1395454
Report Number(s):
NREL/CP-5J00-68419
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (9)

Enhanced external radiative efficiency for 20.8% efficient single-junction GaInP solar cells journal July 2013
Growth of lattice-matched GaInAsP grown on vicinal GaAs(001) substrates within the miscibility gap for solar cells journal January 2017
Design Flexibility of Ultrahigh Efficiency Four-Junction Inverted Metamorphic Solar Cells journal March 2016
Wafer bonded four-junction GaInP/GaAs//GaInAsP/GaInAs concentrator solar cells with 44.7% efficiency: Wafer bonded four-junction concentrator solar cells with 44.7% efficiency journal January 2014
Development of High-Bandgap AlGaInP Solar Cells Grown by Organometallic Vapor-Phase Epitaxy journal May 2016
Optical enhancement of the open-circuit voltage in high quality GaAs solar cells journal March 2013
Highly Transparent Compositionally Graded Buffers for New Metamorphic Multijunction Solar Cell Designs journal January 2017
Generalized Optoelectronic Model of Series-Connected Multijunction Solar Cells journal November 2015
Enhanced Current Collection in 1.7 eV GaInAsP Solar Cells Grown on GaAs by Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy journal May 2017

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
band gap
electric currents
semiconductors
tunnel junctions