Multijunction Ga0.5In0.5P/GaAs solar cells grown by dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy

Schulte, Kevin L.; Simon, John; Ptak, Aaron J.

doi:10.1002/pip.3027

Title: Multijunction Ga_0.5In_0.5P/GaAs solar cells grown by dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy

Journal Article · 13 June 2018 · Progress in Photovoltaics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3027 · OSTI ID:1478619

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National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

We report the development of Ga_0.5In_0.5P/GaAs monolithic tandem solar cells grown by dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy, a III-V semiconductor growth alternative to metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy with the potential to reduce growth costs. The tandem device consists of 3 components: a 1.88 eV band gap (E_G) Ga_0.5In_0.5P top cell, a p-Ga_0.5In_0.5P/n-GaAs tunnel junction, and a 1.41 eV rear heterojunction GaAs cell. The open circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor are 2.40 V and 88.4%, respectively, indicative of high material quality. Electroluminescence measurements show that the individual V_OC of the top and bottom cell are 1.40 and 1.00 V, respectively, yielding EG-voltage offsets (W_OC) of 0.48 and 0.41 V. The W_OC of the top cell is higher because of an unpassivated front surface rather than the bulk material quality. The Ga_0.5In_0.5P top cell limits the current of this series-connected device for this reason to a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 11.16 +/- 0.15 mA/cm² yielding an overall efficiency of 23.7% +/- 0.3%. We show through modeling that thinning the emitter will improve the present result, with a clear pathway toward 30% efficiency with the existing material quality. This result is a promising step toward the realization of high-efficiency III-V multijunction devices with reduced growth cost.

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1478619

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5J00-71357

Journal Information:: Progress in Photovoltaics, Journal Name: Progress in Photovoltaics Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 26; ISSN 1062-7995

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited By (3)

Gallium arsenide solar cells grown at rates exceeding 300 µm h−1 by hydride vapor phase epitaxy Metaferia, Wondwosen; Schulte, Kevin L.; Simon, John Nature Communications, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11341-3	journal	July 2019
A facile light‐trapping approach for ultrathin GaAs solar cells using wet chemical etching Eerden, Maarten; Bauhuis, Gerard J.; Mulder, Peter Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 28, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.3220	journal	December 2019
Gallium arsenide solar cells grown at rates exceeding 300 µm h−1 by hydride vapor phase epitaxy Metaferia, Wondwosen; Schulte, Kevin L.; Simon, John Nature Communications, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11341-3	journal	July 2019

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Title: Multijunction Ga0.5In0.5P/GaAs solar cells grown by dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy

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References (17)

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Title: Multijunction Ga_0.5In_0.5P/GaAs solar cells grown by dynamic hydride vapor phase epitaxy