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Title: Development of high-bandgap AlGaInP solar cells grown by organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy

Journal Article · · IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)
  2. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
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AlGaInP solar cells with bandgaps between 1.9 and 2.2 eV are investigated for use in next-generation multijunction photovoltaic devices. This quaternary alloy is of great importance to the development of III-V solar cells with five or more junctions and for cells optimized for operation at elevated temperatures because of the high bandgaps required in these designs. In this work, we explore the conditions for the organometallic vapor-phase epitaxy growth of AlGaInP and study their effects on cell performance. Initial efforts focused on developing ~2.0-eV AlGaInP solar cells with a nominal aluminum composition of 12%. Under the direct spectrum at 1000 W/m2 (AM1.5D), the best of these samples had an open-circuit voltage of 1.59 V, a bandgap-voltage offset of 440 mV, a fill factor of 88.0%, and an efficiency of 14.8%. We then varied the aluminum composition of the alloy from 0% to 24% and were able to tune the bandgap of the AlGaInP layers from ~1.9 to ~2.2 eV. Furthermore, while the samples with a higher aluminum composition exhibited a reduced quantum efficiency and increased bandgap-voltage offset, the bandgap-voltage offset remained at 500 mV or less, up to a bandgap of ~2.1 eV.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1249407
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-5J00-65420
Journal Information:
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 6, Issue 3; Related Information: IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics; ISSN 2156-3381
Publisher:
IEEECopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 40 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Cited By (4)

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Pathway to 50% efficient inverted metamorphic concentrator solar cells
  • Geisz, John F.; Steiner, Myles A.; Jain, Nikhil
  • 13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONCENTRATOR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS (CPV-13), AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5001425
conference January 2017
AlGaInP/GaAs tandem solar cells for power conversion at 400°C and high concentration
  • Steiner, Myles A.; Perl, Emmett E.; Simon, John
  • 13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONCENTRATOR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS (CPV-13), AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5001429
conference January 2017
Identification of the limiting factors for high-temperature GaAs, GaInP, and AlGaInP solar cells from device and carrier lifetime analysis journal December 2017

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Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
III-V semiconductor materials
photovoltaic cells
semiconductor epitaxial layers
solar energy