Cost‐effective energy harvesting at ultra‐high concentration with duplicated concentrated photovoltaic solar cells

Abstract

Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) systems are one of the few technologies that can provide cost reduction while offering efficiency improvement. In this respect, the resistive losses are some of the main limiting factors, which restrict the efficiency improvement and the cost reduction at ultrahigh concentrations (UHCs). In this work, we propose and investigate new designs consisting of duplicated junction solar cells. The approach can resolve the issues related to the resistive losses. Simulation results, based on Shockley‐Queisser limit, demonstrate that the detrimental effects of series resistance losses in the degradation of efficiency at UHC factor can be mitigated with this strategy. The modeled structures are composed of multiple junctions of materials (GaInP, GaAs, and Ge), which are lattice‐matched to Ge or GaAs. These results illustrate the potential of duplicated junction designs for enhancing efficiency of III‐V solar cells under high concentrations, exceeding 1000 suns (under AM1.5D solar spectrum at 300 K). Finally, a relative cost calculation indicates that more than 30% of cost reduction can be achieved using these designs at UHCs.

Analysis and optimization of concentrated solar power plant for application in arid climate

“…The maximum water consumption is thus approximated to be 400 m 3 . The installed cost of a desalination plant is approximated to be $1 m for every 1000 cubic meters per day of installed capacity 57,58 . Thus, the desalination unit cost is approximated to be $ 400 000.…”

“…The installed cost of a desalination plant is approximated to be $1 m for every 1000 cubic meters per day of installed capacity. 57,58 Thus, the desalination unit cost is approximated to be $ 400 000. The heliostat field fixed cost is added.…”

Ultra-High Concentration Vertical Homo-Multijunction Solar Cells for CubeSats and Terrestrial Applications

“…In concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), a high concentration is achieved through the use of lenses or mirrors. A significant improvement in efficiency achieved by this method is particularly beneficial for multijunction solar cells, which have superior efficiencies despite their high cost [1,23]. Increasing efficiency is essential to reducing material costs.…”

“…Vertical-multijunction (VMJ) architecture reduces the Rs limitations of current architecture in an easy-to-implement manner. There are multiple sub-cells connected by a series of metallic contacts on the sides of these cells [7,11,[21][22][23].…”

Ultra‐efficient intrinsic‐vertical‐tunnel‐junction structures for next‐generation concentrator solar cells

“…1 This can be understood considering that the theoretical efficiency (η) of a solar cell grows with concentration while reducing the amount of semiconductor material, which is the most expensive element of the system. 2 Despite the great potential of this technology, significant efforts are still needed to investigate the main technological challenges, namely, (a) solar cells with efficiencies peaking at UH levels, [3][4][5][6][7] (b) optical designs able to reach UH levels with an adequate optical performance [8][9][10][11] and (c) thermal studies tailored to understand the performance of the cells and/or to produce module configurations aimed to remove or exploit the UH heat waste. [12][13][14][15][16] This communication is focused on the first issue.…”