Silicon concentrator cells designed for a direct mounting on compound parabolic concentrator

A linear concentrator system consisting of a parabolic trough mirror and three-dimensional compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs) as the secondary stage was developed at Fraunhofer ISE. For this linear concentrator system and particularly for an easy cell integration we are developing an optimised rear-contacted silicon solar cell. The small size of the concentrator cells matches with the exit area of the CPCs and is 4.5 mm /spl times/ 4.5 mm. This paper presents the design and preliminary experimental results of these small-sized concentrator cells.