Modeling of antimony based subcell layers for higher photon absorption in novel multijunction solar cell

The main challenge in the solar cell industry is making the solar cells more cost effective. Mono and poly-crystalline Si, CdTe, CIGS, Quantum dot, Organic and Dye-sensitized solar cell technologies do not produce high efficiencies. A low bandgap semiconductor generates larger current due to photon absorption over broader spectral region but do not produce high open circuit voltage because it is limited by the dark current of the low bandgap material. We have introduced a novel quadruple junction solar cell comprised of AlGaInP/InGaAs/GaSb/InGaSb semiconductor subcell layers. We have simulated the quantum efficiency, current density vs. voltage, power density and comparative study of photon absorption of our novel design with state of art single junction and multijunction solar cells. Antimony based subcell layers help in higher photon absorption in the IR region. The combinations of subcell layers yield favorable photon absorption results for the entire solar radiation spectrum.