Triple-junction solar cells with 39.5% terrestrial and 34.2% space efficiency enabled by thick quantum well superlattices

France, Ryan M.; Geisz, John F.; Song, Tao; Olavarria, Waldo; Young, Michelle; Kibbler, Alan; Steiner, Myles A.

doi:10.1016/j.joule.2022.04.024

Title: Triple-junction solar cells with 39.5% terrestrial and 34.2% space efficiency enabled by thick quantum well superlattices

Journal Article · 18 May 2022 · Joule

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2022.04.024 · OSTI ID:1870418

^[1];

^[1]; Song, Tao ^[1]; Olavarria, Waldo ^[1]; Young, Michelle ^[1]; Kibbler, Alan ^[1];

^[1]

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

Multijunction solar cell design is guided by both the theoretical optimal bandgap combination as well as the realistic limitations to materials with these bandgaps. For instance, triple-junction III-V multijunction solar cells commonly use GaAs as a middle cell because of its near-perfect material quality, despite its bandgap being higher than optimal for the global spectrum. Here, we modify the middle cell bandgap using thick GaInAs/GaAsP strain-balanced quantum well (QW) solar cells with excellent voltage and absorption. Additionally, these high-performance QWs are incorporated into a triple-junction inverted metamorphic multijunction device consisting of a GaInP top cell, GaInAs/GaAsP QW middle cell, and lattice-mismatched GaInAs bottom cell, each of which has been highly optimized. We demonstrate triple-junction efficiencies of 39.5% and 34.2% under the AM1.5 global and AM0 space spectra, respectively, and the global efficiency is higher than previous record six-junction devices.

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1870418

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-82243; MainId:83016; UUID:83ebec28-c4d4-46c0-8488-4ddd20248d95; MainAdminID:64583

Journal Information:: Joule, Journal Name: Joule Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 6; ISSN 2542-4351

Publisher:: Elsevier - Cell PressCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Triple-junction solar cells with 39.5% terrestrial and 34.2% space efficiency enabled by thick quantum well superlattices

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