Concentrator III-V solar cells: The influence of the wide-angle cone of light

A model for the performance of concentrator solar cells when receiving the light inside a wide-angle cone of light is presented. The application range of the model goes from single to multijunction concentrator solar cells. In this paper, the model is applied to a 1000 sun GaAs solar cell operating inside a TIR-R optical concentrator. The model predicts the efficiency loss with regard to perpendicular illumination. The model also indicates that the optimum cell structure design for normal incidence is almost the same than for the case of the solar cell operating under a wide-angle cone of light. Nevertheless, the conclusion of this case should not be considered of general validity and each combination of optical concentrator and solar cell must be specifically analyzed.