Three-terminal III–V/Si tandem solar cells enabled by a transparent conductive adhesive
Abstract
Tandem or multijunction solar cells are able to convert sunlight to electricity with greater efficiency than single junction solar cells by splitting the solar spectrum across sub-cells with different bandgaps. With the efficiencies of many common single-junction solar cell materials leveling off near their theoretical efficiency limits, there is renewed interest in applying this approach. However, there is ongoing debate as to the best approach for interconnecting sub-cells in series, or whether it is preferable to operate them independently. Here in this paper, we provide the first experimental demonstration of a tandem cell architecture with three terminals: one on top of the tandem cell, and two beneath it, in interdigitated back contact configuration. The two cells are interconnected with a transparent conductive adhesive, which is compatible with rough surfaces and exhibits negligible series resistance. Combining GaInP and Si sub-cells in this manner allows us to achieve a GaInP/Si tandem cell with a two-terminal efficiency of 26.4 ± 1.0%. We then show that utilizing all three terminals results in an efficiency boost of 0.9 ± 0.2%, to an efficiency of 27.3 ± 1.0%, and discuss the operation of the cell and its two interacting circuits.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[3];
[1];
[1];
[1];
[1]
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Inst. for Solar Energy Research Hamelin, Emmerthal (Germany)
- Inst. for Solar Energy Research Hamelin, Emmerthal (Germany)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office; European Union (EU); German Research Foundation (DFG)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1579642
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1575822
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5K00-71514
Journal ID: ISSN 2398-4902; SEFUA7
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308; EE00030299; 324040; 608498; SCHU 3206/1-1
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Sustainable Energy & Fuels
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2398-4902
- Publisher:
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; tandem cell; multijunction; conductive adhesive; GaInP; Si; interdigitated back contact; high efficiency
Citation Formats
Schnabel, Manuel, Schulte-Huxel, Henning, Rienacker, Michael, Warren, Emily L., Ndione, Paul F., Nemeth, Bill M., Klein, Talysa R., Van Hest, Maikel F. A. M., Geisz, John F., Peibst, Robby, Stradins, Pauls, and Tamboli, Adele C. Three-terminal III–V/Si tandem solar cells enabled by a transparent conductive adhesive. United States: N. p., 2019.
Web. doi:10.1039/C9SE00893D.
Schnabel, Manuel, Schulte-Huxel, Henning, Rienacker, Michael, Warren, Emily L., Ndione, Paul F., Nemeth, Bill M., Klein, Talysa R., Van Hest, Maikel F. A. M., Geisz, John F., Peibst, Robby, Stradins, Pauls, & Tamboli, Adele C. Three-terminal III–V/Si tandem solar cells enabled by a transparent conductive adhesive. United States. doi:10.1039/C9SE00893D.
Schnabel, Manuel, Schulte-Huxel, Henning, Rienacker, Michael, Warren, Emily L., Ndione, Paul F., Nemeth, Bill M., Klein, Talysa R., Van Hest, Maikel F. A. M., Geisz, John F., Peibst, Robby, Stradins, Pauls, and Tamboli, Adele C. Mon .
"Three-terminal III–V/Si tandem solar cells enabled by a transparent conductive adhesive". United States. doi:10.1039/C9SE00893D. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1579642.
@article{osti_1579642,
title = {Three-terminal III–V/Si tandem solar cells enabled by a transparent conductive adhesive},
author = {Schnabel, Manuel and Schulte-Huxel, Henning and Rienacker, Michael and Warren, Emily L. and Ndione, Paul F. and Nemeth, Bill M. and Klein, Talysa R. and Van Hest, Maikel F. A. M. and Geisz, John F. and Peibst, Robby and Stradins, Pauls and Tamboli, Adele C.},
abstractNote = {Tandem or multijunction solar cells are able to convert sunlight to electricity with greater efficiency than single junction solar cells by splitting the solar spectrum across sub-cells with different bandgaps. With the efficiencies of many common single-junction solar cell materials leveling off near their theoretical efficiency limits, there is renewed interest in applying this approach. However, there is ongoing debate as to the best approach for interconnecting sub-cells in series, or whether it is preferable to operate them independently. Here in this paper, we provide the first experimental demonstration of a tandem cell architecture with three terminals: one on top of the tandem cell, and two beneath it, in interdigitated back contact configuration. The two cells are interconnected with a transparent conductive adhesive, which is compatible with rough surfaces and exhibits negligible series resistance. Combining GaInP and Si sub-cells in this manner allows us to achieve a GaInP/Si tandem cell with a two-terminal efficiency of 26.4 ± 1.0%. We then show that utilizing all three terminals results in an efficiency boost of 0.9 ± 0.2%, to an efficiency of 27.3 ± 1.0%, and discuss the operation of the cell and its two interacting circuits.},
doi = {10.1039/C9SE00893D},
journal = {Sustainable Energy & Fuels},
number = 2,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {11}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Back‐contacted bottom cells with three terminals: Maximizing power extraction from current‐mismatched tandem cells
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- Rienäcker, Michael; Warren, Emily L.; Schnabel, Manuel
- Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, Vol. 27, Issue 5