Title: Irradiance and temperature considerations in the design and deployment of high annual energy yield perovskite/CIGS tandems

Abstract

The annual energy yields for metal halide perovskite/copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) tandem photovoltaics have been calculated for 16 different bandgap combinations, using both 2 terminal and 4 terminal device designs, with fixed-tilt mounting as well as 1- and 2-axis tracking. Measured complex index of refraction data were used for the materials comprising the devices, and hourly irradiance data were extracted from Version 3 of the National Solar Radiation Database. Simulations were performed for Toledo OH, Golden CO, Phoenix AZ, and New Orleans LA, and the effect of local temperature variation was also considered. The combination of irradiance and temperature variations throughout the year cause different devices to be optimal at different times of the year. Interestingly, devices constructed to maximize AM1.5 photoconversion efficiency do not necessarily maximize the annual energy yield. A detailed analysis of the monthly energy yields at the different locations reveals the interplay between the changing light and temperature conditions. Over the course of the year these effects average to some degree so that annual energy yields that are close to the maximum possible value can be achieved by several different tandem device designs. The conclusions are valid for devices made with relatively thin perovskite layers,more » such as those used in champion efficiency devices. When the perovskite layers are thicker, however, the device is less tolerant to variation. Our results show that close matching of bandgap pairs is not essential for the fabrication of high-performance tandems. These findings should allow manufacturing efforts to proceed without the need for precise compositional control during formation of the absorber layers.« less

Authors:

Hosseinian Ahangharnejhad, Ramez  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-1398-0397"

Phillips, Adam B. ^[1]; Ghimire, Kiran ^[1]; Koirala, Prakash ^[1]; Song, Zhaoning  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-6677-0994"

Barudi, Hashem M. ^[1]; Habte, Aron ^[2]; Sengupta, Manajit  ^[2];

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Ellingson, Randy J.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-9520-6586"

Yan, Yanfa  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-3977-5789"

Collins, Robert W. ^[1]; Podraza, Nikolas J. ^[1]; Heben, Michael J.  ^[1]

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Heben, Michael J."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-3788-3471"

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States). Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC)
2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Publication Date:

Fri Jun 07 00:00:00 EDT 2019

Research Org.:

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

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

OSTI Identifier:

1543121

Report Number(s):

NREL/JA-5D00-73505
Journal ID: ISSN 2398-4902; SEFUA7

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Sustainable Energy & Fuels

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 3; Journal Issue: 7; Journal ID: ISSN 2398-4902

Publisher:

Royal Society of Chemistry

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

14 SOLAR ENERGY; 47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION; irradiance; temperature; perovskite; CIGS