Characterization and Design of Photovoltaic Solar Cells That Absorb Ultraviolet, Visible and Infrared Light

Abstract

The world is witnessing a tide of change in the photovoltaic industry like never before; we are far from the solar cells of ten years ago that only had 15–18% efficiency. More and more, multi-junction technologies seem to be the future for photovoltaics, with these technologies already hitting the mark of 30% under 1-sun. This work focuses especially on a state-of-the-art triple-junction solar cell, the GaInP/GaInAs/Ge lattice-matched, that is currently being used in most satellites and concentrator photovoltaic systems. The three subcells are first analyzed individually and then the whole cell is put together and simulated. The typical figures-of-merit are extracted; all the I−V curves obtained are presented, along with the external quantum efficiencies. A study on how temperature affects the cell was done, given its relevance when talking about space applications. An overall optimization of the cell is also elaborated; the cell’s thickness and doping are changed so that maximum efficiency can be reached. For a better understanding of how varying both these properties affect efficiency, graphic 3D plots were computed based on the obtained results. Considering this optimization, an improvement of 0.2343% on the cell’s efficiency is obtained.