Buffer layer between a planar optical concentrator and a solar cell
- Departamento de Ingeniería Matemática and CI"2 MA, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Casilla 160-C (Chile)
- Penn State Institute of Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
- Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore 54792 (Pakistan)
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)
- Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States)
The effect of inserting a buffer layer between a periodically multilayered isotropic dielectric (PMLID) material acting as a planar optical concentrator and a photovoltaic solar cell was theoretically investigated. The substitution of the photovoltaic material by a cheaper dielectric material in a large area of the structure could reduce the fabrication costs without significantly reducing the efficiency of the solar cell. Both crystalline silicon (c-Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) were considered as the photovoltaic material. We found that the buffer layer can act as an antireflection coating at the interface of the PMLID and the photovoltaic materials, and the structure increases the spectrally averaged electron-hole pair density by 36% for c-Si and 38% for GaAs compared to the structure without buffer layer. Numerical evidence indicates that the optimal structure is robust with respect to small changes in the grating profile.
- OSTI ID:
- 22492359
- Journal Information:
- AIP Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 9; Other Information: (c) 2015 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2158-3226
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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