Title :
Efficiency simulations of top surface light management structures for concentrator solar cells using RCWA and detailed balance theory
Author :
Tamayox, Efrain E. Meguro-ku ; Watanabe, Kentaroh ; Watanabe, Ryosuke ; Sugiyama, Masakazu ; Okada, Yoshitaka ; Miyano, Kenjiro
Author_Institution :
Res. Center for Adv. Sci. & Technol. (RCAST), Univ. of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract :
Currently the most efficient solar cells are based on III-V semiconductor materials. When combined with Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) systems, the efficiency is further increased and the required amount of semiconductor material is decreased, which makes CPV a potential candidate to achieve low cost solar energy [1]. Light management is the combination of antireflective and light trapping effects that occur when e.g., texturing the interfaces. In this paper we report on simulations of antireflective structures with weak angular dependence on the incident angle at the top of the homogenizer and between the homogenizer and a GaAs solar cell, which are needed for approaching the theoretical efficiency limit [2].
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; gallium arsenide; solar cells; solar energy concentrators; CPV systems; GaAs; III-V semiconductor materials; RCWA; concentrated photovoltaic systems; concentrator solar cells; detailed balance theory; incident angle; reflective structures; rigorous coupled wave analysis; top surface light management structures; Gallium arsenide; Optical reflection; Optical refraction; Reflectivity; III–V semiconductor materials; numerical simulation; photovoltaic cells; surface texture;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), 2012 38th IEEE
Conference_Location :
Austin, TX
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4673-0064-3
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2012.6318012