High Efficiency Inverted GaAs and GaInP/GaAs Solar Cells With Strain‐Balanced GaInAs/GaAsP Quantum Wells

Myles Steiner, Ryan France, Jeronimo Buencuerpo, John Geisz, Michael Nielsen, Andreas Pusch, Waldo Olavarria, Michelle Young, NIcholas Ekins-Daukes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

67 Scopus Citations

Abstract

High-efficiency solar cells are essential for high-density terrestrial applications, as well as space and potentially vehicle applications. The optimum bandgap for the terrestrial spectrum lies beyond the absorption range of a traditional dual junction GaInP/GaAs cell, with the bottom GaAs cell having higher bandgap energy than necessary. Lower energy bandgaps can be achieved with multiple quantum wells (QWs), but such a pathway requires advanced management of the epitaxial growth conditions in order to be useful. Strain-balanced GaAsP/GaInAs QWs are incorporated into a single junction GaAs solar cell and a dual junction GaInP/GaAs solar cell, leading to 27.2% efficiency in the single junction device and a one-sun record 32.9% efficiency in the tandem device. Good carrier collection and low non-radiative recombination are observed in the cells with up to 80 QWs. The GaAs cells employ a rear-heterojunction architecture to boost the open-circuit voltage to over 1.04 V in the quantum well device, despite the large number of QWs.

Original languageAmerican English
Article number2002874
Number of pages8
JournalAdvanced Energy Materials
Volume11
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Wiley-VCH GmbH

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5900-77777

Keywords

  • III-V
  • photovoltaic
  • quantum wells
  • solar cell efficiency
  • strain-balancing
  • tandem

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