Title :
Heterojunction photovoltaic cell configurations for maximum conversion efficiency
Author :
Liakos, John K. ; Landsberg, Peter T.
Author_Institution :
Fac. of Math. Studies, Southampton Univ., UK
Abstract :
The sequence of semiconductors (1,2) say encountered by light incident on a solar cell can be such that the first energy gap is the larger (configuration A, Eg1<Eg2) or the smaller (configuration B, Eg1<Eg2). We show here via contours of constant efficiency in an (Eg1, Eg2 )-plot that, subject to certain simplifications, reasonable conditions exist for the maximum efficiency to occur for either configuration. That there is an important class of cases favoring configuration B is our main contribution in this paper. The homojunction efficiencies on the diagonal of these plots lie always below the heterojunction maximum
Keywords :
energy gap; p-n heterojunctions; semiconductor device models; solar cells; constant efficiency contours; energy gap; heterojunction photovoltaic cell configurations; homojunction efficiencies; maximum conversion efficiency; solar cell; Current density; Equations; Heterojunctions; Impact ionization; Optical pumping; Optical saturation; Photovoltaic cells; Solar energy; Sun; Temperature;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 1994., Conference Record of the Twenty Fourth. IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference - 1994, 1994 IEEE First World Conference on
Conference_Location :
Waikoloa, HI
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-1460-3
DOI :
10.1109/WCPEC.1994.520745
