Two dimensional effects in conventional solar cells operated at high intensities

A two-dimensional computer model, SCAP2D, (1) has been applied to the analysis of conventional geometry solar cells (Fig. 1.) operated at concentration ratios as high as 400 suns. It is demonstrated that this two-dimensional analysis is in much better agreement with experimental results than that obtained using a one-dimensional model. In this paper, factors which affect the open circuit voltage, fill factor, and spectral response will be discussed. Circulating currents which are the result of grid shadowing are shown to cause a decrease in the open circuit voltage at high concentration ratios. The need for an arbitrary adjustment in the effective surface recombination velocity which is required in one-dimensional models is removed for the two-dimensional model.