DocumentCode
3711403
Title
Theoretical efficiency limits of a 2 terminal dual junction step cell
Author
Sabina Abdul Hadi;Tim Milakovich;Mayank Bulsara;Evelina Polyzoeva;Eugene A. Fitzgerald;Judy L. Hoyt;Ammar Nayfeh
Author_Institution
Institute Center for Future Energy Systems (iFES) Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, UAE
fYear
2015
fDate
6/1/2015 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage
1
Lastpage
5
Abstract
In this paper we present theoretical analysis for upper efficiency limit of a novel 2 terminal dual junction stepcell. Results show that step cell design relaxes bandgap requirements for efficient tandem cell. While conventional tandem cell with optimized bandgap combination (1.64 / 0.96 eV) has the highest efficiency (45.78 %), the step-cell design provides significant efficiency improvement for cells with non-optimized bandgap values. Efficiency upper limit for Si based step-cell with top cell bandgap equal to 1.41 eV (~ GaAs), efficiency upper limit increases from ~21% in conventional tandem cell to 38.7% for optimized step-cell design. Step-cell design provides opportunity for wider selection of materials used in tandem solar cell applications.
Keywords
"Photonic band gap","Silicon","Photovoltaic cells","Photonics","Junctions","Limiting","Lattices"
Publisher
ieee
Conference_Titel
Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2015 IEEE 42nd
Type
conf
DOI
10.1109/PVSC.2015.7356122
Filename
7356122
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