Thermal heating in GaAs nanowire solar cells

We compare the temperature rise due to solar heating in GaAs nanowire solar cells to planar cells. We find that despite more highly concentrated light absorption and reduced thermal conductivity, the overall temperature rise in nanowire structures is lower than in planar structures. Moreover, coating the nanowires with a transparent conductive polymer with high absorption at thermal wavelengths can lower the operating temperature by nearly 10K for a heat input of 900 W/m².