Terrestrial Concentrator PV Modules Based on GaInP/GaAs/Ge TJ Cells and Minilens Panels

Author

Rumyantsev, V.D. ; Sadchikov, N.A. ; Chalov, A.E. ; Ionova, E.A. ; Friedman, D.J. ; Glenn, G.

Author_Institution

Ioffe Inst., St. Petersburg

Volume

1

fYear

2006

fDate

38838

Firstpage

632

Lastpage

635

Abstract

This paper is a description of research activity in the field of cost-effective modules realizing the concept of very high solar concentration with small-aperture area Fresnel lenses and multijunction III-V cells. Structural simplicity and "all-glass" design are the guiding principles of the corresponding development. The advanced concentrator modules are made with silicone Fresnel lens panels (from 8 up to 144 lenses, each lens is 4times4 cm² in aperture area) with composite structure. GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction cells with average efficiencies of 31.1 and 34.7% at 1000 suns were used for the modules. Conversion efficiency as high as 26.3% has been measured indoors in a test module using a newly developed large-area solar simulator

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; elemental semiconductors; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; germanium; indium compounds; lenses; semiconductor heterojunctions; solar cells; solar energy concentrators; GaInP-GaAs-Ge; composite structure; large-area solar simulator; minilens panels; multijunction III-V cells; silicone Fresnel lens panels; terrestrial concentrator PV modules; triple junction cells; Fresnel reflection; Gallium arsenide; Glass; III-V semiconductor materials; Lenses; Optical materials; Optical refraction; Photovoltaic cells; Sun; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Conference Record of the 2006 IEEE 4th World Conference on

Conference_Location

Waikoloa, HI

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0017-1

Electronic_ISBN

1-4244-0017-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/WCPEC.2006.279534

Filename

4059707