GaAs/silicon PVMirror tandem photovoltaic mini‐module with 29.6% efficiency with respect to the outdoor global irradiance
Abstract Balance‐of‐system costs now dominate the installed cost of photovoltaic systems, causing the annually averaged module efficiency to become a primary system cost driver. The resulting continued push towards higher module efficiencies, coupled with the dominance of single‐axis tracking in the utility‐scale PV market, may create an opportunity for a low‐concentration tandem module technology. Here, we demonstrate such a tandem, using the “PVMirror” concept, on the mini‐module scale. The tandem couples a (concentrating) silicon PVMirror having an aperture area of 156.25 cm 2 with a gallium arsenide receiver to achieve 29.6% efficiency with respect to the outdoor global irradiance. Unlike most concentrating technologies, the silicon PVMirror collects some of the diffuse light, but the tandem would nevertheless achieve 31% efficiency in the absence of diffuse light, as in a laboratory measurement. The same tandem technology can be implemented with a wide‐bandgap thin‐film PVMirror and silicon receiver—a potentially cost‐competitive combination—when efficient wide‐bandgap cells have been developed.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- DE‐EE0007368
- OSTI ID:
- 1492739
- Journal Information:
- Progress in Photovoltaics, Journal Name: Progress in Photovoltaics Vol. 27 Journal Issue: 5; ISSN 1062-7995
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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GaAs/silicon PVMirror tandem photovoltaic mini-module with 29.6% efficiency with respect to the outdoor global irradiance