Title :
Solar cells for NASA RAINBOW concentrator
Author :
Smith, Mark A. ; Sinharoy, Samar ; Weizer, Victor G. ; Khan, Osman ; Pal, AnnaMarie ; Clark, Eric B. ; Wilt, David M. ; Scheiman, David A. ; Mardesich, Nick
Author_Institution :
Essential Res. Inc., Cleveland, OH, USA
Abstract :
The RAINBOW concentrator system is based on a concept of splitting the solar spectrum and focussing each portion on a solar cell having a bandgap matching the input spectral portion. Efficiencies over 40% are predicted for systems using a four-bandgap cell assembly under 20× concentration. Reported here are the results of materials growth, processing, and testing of four different solar cells designed to populate the RAINBOW testbed, under development at JPL. The cells are 0.74-eV InGaAs on lattice-matched InP, 1.1-eV InGaAs on lattice-mismatched GaAs, 1.43-eV GaAs on GaAs, and 1.85-eV InGaP on lattice-matched GaAs. Quantum efficiencies between 0.8 and 1.0 have been realized for the spectral region from 0.5 to ~1.5 μm
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; MOCVD; energy gap; gallium arsenide; indium compounds; solar cells; solar energy concentrators; vapour phase epitaxial growth; 0.74 to 1.85 eV; 20× concentration; GaAs-GaAs; InGaAs-GaAs; InGaAs-InP; InGaP-GaAs; NASA RAINBOW concentrator system; bandgap; four-bandgap cell assembly; input spectral portion; lattice-matched GaAs; lattice-matched InP; lattice-mismatched GaAs; materials growth; materials processing; materials testing; quantum efficiencies; solar cells; solar spectrum splitting; Gallium arsenide; Indium gallium arsenide; Indium phosphide; Materials testing; NASA; Optical arrays; Optical filters; Photonic band gap; Photovoltaic cells; Solar power generation;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Anchorage, AK
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5772-8
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2000.916088
