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(Al)GaInP/GaAs Tandem Solar Cells for Power Conversion at Elevated Temperature and High Concentration

Journal Article · · IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
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  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
  2. SolAero Technologies Corp., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  3. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
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We demonstrate dual-junction (Al)GaInP/GaAs solar cells designed for operation at 400 degrees C and 1000x concentration. For the top junction, we compare (Al)GaInP solar cells with room-temperature bandgaps ranging from 1.9 to 2.0 eV. At 400 degrees C, we find that ~1.9 eV GaInP solar cells have a higher open-circuit voltage and a lower sheet resistance than higher bandgap (Al)GaInP solar cells, giving them a clear advantage in a tandem configuration. Dual-junction GaInP/GaAs solar cells are fabricated, and we show temperature-dependent external quantum efficiency, illuminated current-voltage, and concentrator measurements from 25 degrees C to 400 degrees C. We measure a power conversion efficiency of 16.4% +/- 1% at 400 degrees C and 345 suns for the best dual-junction cell, and discuss multiple pathways to improve the performance further. After undergoing a 200 h soak at 400 degrees C, the dual-junction device shows a relative loss in efficiency of only ~1%.
Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1423195
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5J00-70703
Journal Information:
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Journal Name: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 8; ISSN 2156-3381
Publisher:
IEEECopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Cited By (2)

Photovoltaic operation in the lower atmosphere and at the surface of Venus journal December 2019
Performance bounds and perspective for hybrid solar photovoltaic/thermal electricity-generation strategies journal January 2018

Figures / Tables (9)

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
III-V and concentrator photovoltaics
PV cells
high temperature
semiconductor materials
solar energy