Energy-yield prediction for II–VI-based thin-film tandem solar cells

Mailoa, Jonathan P.; Lee, Mitchell; Peters, Ian Marius; Buonassisi, Tonio; Panchula, Alex; Weiss, Dirk N.

doi:10.1039/c6ee01778a

Cited by 44 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…[3][4][5][6] However, the availability of low bandgap semiconductors is limited especially taking into account cost considerations. Potential candidates, considered hitherto, as low bandgap absorber materials are GaSb (0.73 eV), [7][8][9] Ge (0.67 eV), 10,11 InGaAs (0.36-0.75 eV), 10,12,13 , InGaAsSb (0.5-0.6 eV). 3,14 Yet the growth of these materials often requires costly high ultra-high vacuum facilities and lattice matched substrates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solution processed infrared- and thermo-photovoltaics based on 0.7 eV bandgap PbS colloidal quantum dots

Bertran

Gupta

et al. 2019

Nanoscale

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Harnessing low energy photons is of paramount importance for multi-junction high efficiency solar cells as well as for thermo-photovoltaic applications. However, semiconductor absorbers with bandgap lower than 0.8 eV have been limited to III-V (InGaAs) or IV (Ge) semiconductors that are characterized by high manufacturing costs and complicated lattice matching requirements in their growth and integration with the higher bandgap cells. Here, we have developed solution processed low bandgap photovoltaic devices based on PbS colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) with a bandgap of 0.7 eV suited for both thermo-photovoltaic as well as low energy solar photon harvesting. By matching the spectral response of those cells to that of the infrared solar spectrum, we report a record high short circuit current (JSC) of 37 mA/cm 2 under full solar spectrum and 5.5 mA/cm2 when placed at the back of a silicon wafer resulting in power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 6.4 % and 0.7 % respectively. Moreover, the device reached an above bandgap PCE of ~6 % as a thermo-photovoltaic cell recorded under a 1000 °C blackbody radiator. * Corresponding Author: Gerasimos.Konstantatos@icfo.e †Electronic Supplementary Information (ESI) available: Experimental section of CQS synthesis and device fabrication; Simulated PbS CQDs solar cells' EQE curves; asobtained PbS CQDs characterizations; the selection of electron blocking layer for 0.7 eV PbS CQDs solar cells; additional device performance tables. See

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solution processed infrared- and thermo-photovoltaics based on 0.7 eV bandgap PbS colloidal quantum dots

Bertran

Gupta

et al. 2019

Nanoscale

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“…The rst paper to estimate the AEY for all thin-lm tandems was focused on CdTe-related devices and simulated the performance for xed bandgap combinations and xed material thicknesses under a clear sky model. 35 A few studies have appeared since then which have considered the AEY of tandems fabricated with perovskites. Studies on perovskite/Si devices 36,37 used more realistic irradiance data but were, of course, limited to a xed bandgap for the bottom cell.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irradiance and temperature considerations in the design and deployment of high annual energy yield perovskite/CIGS tandems

Ahangharnejhad

Phillips

Ghimire

et al. 2019

Sustainable Energy Fuels

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“…While 2-T configurations can benefit from optically coupling the top and bottom cells to prevent loss and reflections between the devices, they remain electronically coupled as well, forcing the two cells to be current matched. Even with an optimal design, this current matching condition can only be reached for a single optical spectrum; under diffuse light conditions, the large shifts in illumination spectrum can cause large efficiency losses (e.g., up to ∼11% relative in energy-yield disadvantage , ). Conversely, 4-T devices benefit from electronically decoupling the two cells, alleviating the need for current matching, but thick spacer layers generally cause the tandem to lose the optical benefits of the monolithically stacked 2-T tandems, and the additional contact again introduces a ∼10% relative efficiency loss .…”

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confidence: 99%

Nanoscale Back Contact Perovskite Solar Cell Design for Improved Tandem Efficiency

2017

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Tandem photovoltaics, combining absorber layers with two distinct band gap energies into a single device, provide a practical solution to reduce thermalization losses in solar energy conversion. Traditionally, tandem devices have been assembled using two-terminal (2-T) or four-terminal (4-T) configurations; the 2-T limits the tandem performance due to the series connection requiring current matching, while the standard 4-T configuration requires at least three transparent electrical contacts, which reduce the total collected power due to unavoidable parasitic absorption. Here, we introduce a novel architecture based on a nanoscale back-contact for a thin-film top cell in a three terminal (3-T) configuration. Using coupled optical–electrical modeling, we optimize this architecture for a planar perovskite-silicon tandem, highlighting the roles of nanoscale contacts to reduce the required perovskite electronic quality. For example, with an 18% planar silicon base cell, the 3-T back contact design can reach a 32.9% tandem efficiency with a 10 μm diffusion length perovskite material. Using the same perovskite quality, the 4-T and 2-T configurations only reach 30.2% and 24.8%, respectively. We also confirm that the same 3-T efficiency advantage applies when using 25% efficient textured silicon base cells, where the tandems reach 35.2% and 32.8% efficiency for the 3-T, and 4-T configurations, respectively. Furthermore, because our design is based on the individual subcells being back-contacted, further improvements can be readily made by optimizing the front surface, which is left free for additional antireflective coating, light trapping, surface passivation, and photoluminescence outcoupling enhancements.

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Energy-yield prediction for II–VI-based thin-film tandem solar cells

Cited by 44 publications

References 33 publications

Solution processed infrared- and thermo-photovoltaics based on 0.7 eV bandgap PbS colloidal quantum dots

Solution processed infrared- and thermo-photovoltaics based on 0.7 eV bandgap PbS colloidal quantum dots

Irradiance and temperature considerations in the design and deployment of high annual energy yield perovskite/CIGS tandems

Nanoscale Back Contact Perovskite Solar Cell Design for Improved Tandem Efficiency

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