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Solar Spectrum Splitting Parallel Junction High Efficiency Concentrating Photovoltaics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2012

Lirong Z. Broderick ,
Marco Stefancich ,
Dario Roncati ,
Brian R. Albert ,
Xing Sheng ,
Lionel C. Kimerling  and
Jurgen Michel
Lirong Z. Broderick
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, 02139
Marco Stefancich
Affiliation:
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Dario Roncati
Affiliation:
Istituto dei Materiali per l’ Elettronica ed il Magnetismo, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Parco Area delle Scienze 37/A – 43124, Parma, Italy
Brian R. Albert
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, 02139
Xing Sheng
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, 02139
Lionel C. Kimerling
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, 02139
Jurgen Michel
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, 02139
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Abstract

A compact, single element concentrator comprising a near linear array of prisms has been designed to simultaneously split and concentrate the solar spectrum. Laterally aligned solar cells with different bandgaps are devised to be fabricated on a common Si substrate, with each cell absorbing a different spectral band optimized for highest overall power conversion efficiency. Epitaxial Ge on Si is used as a low cost virtual substrate for III-V materials growth. Assuming no optical loss for the prism concentrator, no shadowing and perfect carrier collection for the solar cells, simulations show that 39% efficiency can be achieved for a parallel four-junction (4PJ) InGaP-GaAs-Si-Ge cell under 200X concentration, and higher efficiency is possible with more junctions.

Keywords

photovoltaicSiIII-V
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1391: Symposium J – Photonic and Plasmonic Materials for Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance , 2012 , mrsf11-1391-j02-06
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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References

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