Presentation Details
| Light Trapping in Ultrathin III-V Tandem Solar Cells Oliver Hoehn1, 2, Nicolas Alt1, 2, Alexis Gobe3, Sylvain Finot4, 5, Jenny Norberg1, 2, Simon Ryckaert4, Stéphane Collin4, 5, Stéphane Lanteri3, Henning Helmers1. 1Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany.2Chair of Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH), Un, Freiburg, Germany.3Inria Center at Université Côte d’Azur, Sophia Antipoolis Cedex, France.4Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies (C2N), CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Palaiseau, France.5Institut Photovoltaïque d’Ile-de-France (IPVF), Palaiseau, France |
Abstract
A successful transition to 100% renewable energy will require massive deployment of photovoltaics, but current technologies face resource limitations. Extending ultrathin solar cell concepts to tandem devices could drastically reduce material demand, yet this requires not only advanced light trapping but also spectrally selective light management. This work investigates ultrathin tandem solar cells using the example of a GaInP/GaAs dual-junction solar cells. Four different light-trapping concepts were analyzed and compared, focusing on the impact of structured front- and rear-side surfaces and intermediate reflectors on light trapping and current generation. The results show that structuring at least one interface enables total absorber thicknesses well below 1 µm to achieve high absorption, while structuring both front and rear sides allows further reduction to a few hundred nanometers. We find that while the introduction of an intermediate reflector increases the overall system complexity, it does not provide significant additional benefit when considering the entire device stack. Overall, the findings suggest that structuring a single interface is the most effective and practical approach for reducing absorber thickness and paving the way towards ultrathin tandem solar cells.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.