Research on high-efficiency, multiple-gap, multi-junction amorphous silicon-based alloy thin-film solar cells

Technical Report · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:6568228

Guha, S ^[1]

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1. Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., Troy, MI (USA)

This report documents the results of material development, single- junction solar cell research, and high-efficiency multijunction cell development. High-quality a-Si:Ge:H:F alloys were made with optical band gaps as low as 1.3 eV; high-conductivity microcrystalline p{sup +} and n{sup +} doped alloys were developed with optical band gaps greater than 2 eV. A double-layer antireflection coating was developed, and the cell's quantum efficiency at 400 nm improved from 60% to 77%. A novel solar cell structure was developed using band gap profiling in the intrinsic layer to obtain high efficiency. Single-junction solar cells with a-SiGe:H alloys in the intrinsic layer were fabricated with active-area efficiencies of 9.7%. Dual-gap tandem cells were fabricated with active-area efficiencies of 13%, and triple-junction cells were fabricated with active-area efficiencies of 13.7%--the highest reported to date for any thin-film amorphous solar cell. Degradation rates of 12%--17% after 300 hours illumination were measured in triple-junction cells, a significant increase over the degradation of single-junction cells with comparable efficiencies. A triple-junction module with a subaperture area of 818 cm{sup 2} was measured at SERI with a conversion efficiency of 8.4%. 27 refs., 72 figs., 15 tabs.

• Research Organization: Solar Energy Research Inst., Golden, CO (USA); Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., Troy, MI (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/CE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-83CH10093
• OSTI ID: 6568228
• Report Number(s): SERI/TP-211-3918; ON: DE90000364; CNN: ZB-7-06003-4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140501* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Photovoltaic Conversion
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360601 -- Other Materials-- Preparation & Manufacture
360602 -- Other Materials-- Structure & Phase Studies
360603 -- Materials-- Properties
AMORPHOUS STATE
ANTIREFLECTION COATINGS
COATINGS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPLEXES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
CURRENT DENSITY
DESIGN
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DOCUMENT TYPES
DOPED MATERIALS
EFFICIENCY
EQUIPMENT
FABRICATION
FILMS
FLUORINE COMPLEXES
FUNCTIONS
GERMANIUM COMPLEXES
HYDROGEN COMPLEXES
LAYERS
LUMINESCENCE
MATERIALS
MICROSTRUCTURE
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOLUMINESCENCE
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROGRESS REPORT
RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
SAMPLING
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
STABILITY
TESTING
THIN FILMS