High temperature characterization of GaAs single junction solar cells

Maros, Aymeric; Gangam, Srikanth; Fang, Yi; Smith, J. K.; Vasileska, Dragica; Goodnick, Stephen M.; Bertoni, Mariana I.; Honsberg, Christiana B.

doi:10.1109/pvsc.2015.7356338

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…In this section we want discuss about the values of EnCi at a fixed working temperature equal to 450 K, as a function of the optical concentration γ op , the thermoelectric figure of merit Z pn T m , and the HM properties. The temperature of 450 K has been chosen in view of recent developments of high temperature solar cells capable of working at such high temperature without damaging [53], and for the compatibility of this temperature with Bi 2 Te 3 based TEGs, which are the most established thermoelectric material. For the sake of clarity in this section we also fixed β 0 th to a medium value of 0.002 K −1 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From this graph is possible to understand how most of the maximum EnCi higher than 0.04 are hardly implementable since correspond to temperature above 450 K. At these temperatures several issues as ohmic contact and semiconductors degradation, dopant diffusion, and others can lead to irreversible degradation of the PV part [50]. Even if relevant progresses on these technological limitations has been achieved in the field of high-temperature solar cells, especially for near-sun space missions [51][52][53][54], and for thermophotovoltaic applications [2,55], the applicability of high working temperatures has to be evaluated depending on the kind of PV cell implemented. Fig.…”

Section: The Optimal Geometrical Proportion For the Thermoelectric Lementioning

confidence: 99%

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Theoretical efficiency of hybrid solar thermoelectric-photovoltaic generators

Lorenzi

Chen

2018

Journal of Applied Physics

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This work analyses the potential of hybrid solar thermoelectric photovoltaic generators (HSTEPVGs) through evaluating their efficiency in converting solar power into electricity for a system consisting of a PV cell placed directly on top of a thermoelectric generator. A theoretical model for terrestrial application which includes the possibility of thermal and optical concentrations is reported. As in the case of pure solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs), an optimal operation temperature also exists for HSTEPVGs determined by the temperature dependences of both the solar cells and the thermoelectric generators. The study reports efficiency gain of 4-5% with respect to the sole PV case, especially in the case of optical concentrations which mitigate the solar cell temperature sensitivity. In addition to these interesting results, the work also reveals the major constrains expected for this approach, along with technological challenges especially regarding the optical properties of the device encapsulation and the solar cell degradation.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Optimal Geometrical Proportion For the Thermoelectric Lementioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical efficiency of hybrid solar thermoelectric-photovoltaic generators

Lorenzi

Chen

2018

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…Solar cells based on conventional III–V semiconductors, e.g., GaAs, , GaP/AlGaP, , AlGaInP, and even SiC, have been researched for high-temperature applications with limited success. The intrinsic PV conversion efficiency of these devices typically showed a sharp decrease with increasing temperatures; that is, these cells exhibit a negative temperature coefficient. , For example, GaAs solar cells were reported with an absolute efficiency drop of 0.4% per 10-degree temperature increase at one-sun and failed shortly after exposure to high temperature. , The escalating short-circuit current ( J sc ) and dropping open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) at high temperatures of these cells are also detrimental to the PV module operation. Furthermore, other extrinsic effects such as degradation in metal contacts further exacerbate the device performance at high temperature. − …”

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confidence: 99%

High-Temperature Polarization-Free III-Nitride Solar Cells with Self-Cooling Effects

Huang

et al. 2019

ACS Photonics

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High-temperature photovoltaics (PV) for terrestrial and extraterrestrial applications have presented demanding challenges for current solar cell materials, such as Si, III−V AlGaInP, and II−VI. Widebandgap III-nitride materials, in contrast, offer several intrinsic advantages that make them extremely appealing for high-temperature applications. In this study, we fabricated and characterized III-nitride solar cells using polarization-free (i.e., nonpolar) InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs). The InGaN solar cells showed a large working temperature range from room temperature (RT) to 450 °C, with positive temperature coefficients up to 350 °C. The peak external quantum efficiencies of the devices showed a 2.5-fold enhancement from RT (∼32%) to 450 °C (∼81%), which is distinct from all other solar cells ever reported. This can be partially attributed to an increase of over 70% in carrier lifetime in nonpolar InGaN MQWs obtained from time-resolved photoluminescence. Furthermore, a thermal radiation analysis revealed a unique self-cooling effect for III-nitride materials, which also helps enhance device performance at high temperature. These results offer new insights and strategies for the design and fabrication of highefficiency high-temperature PV cells.

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“…Both the LED and the PV cell are GaAs pn junction, with p-regions at the front and n-regions at the back. The LED is heated at 600 K, which allows for large radiative heat transfer while keeping the quantum efficiency high [34,35]. The PV cell is kept at ambient temperature (300 K).…”

Section: Modellingmentioning

confidence: 99%

GaAs-Based Near-Field Thermophotonic Devices: Approaching The Idealized Case With One-Dimensional PN Junctions

Legendre¹,

Chapuis²

2021

Preprint

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Thermophotonics (TPX) is a technology close to thermophotovoltaics (TPV), where a heated lightemitting diode (LED) is used as the active thermal emitter of the system. It allows to tune the heat flux, by means of electroluminescence, to a spectral range matching better the gap of a photovoltaic cell. The concept is extended to near-field thermophotonics (NF-TPX), where enhanced energy conversion is due to both electric control and wave tunneling. We perform a thorough numerical analysis of a GaAsbased NF-TPX device, by coupling a near-field radiative heat transfer solver based on fluctuational electrodynamics with an algorithm based on a simplified version of the drift-diffusion equations in 1D. Through the investigation of the emission and absorption profiles in the LED and the photovoltaic (PV) cell, and the scrutiny of the impact of key parameters on the performance of the device, we highlight the necessity to model precisely the charge transport in both the LED and the PV cell for obtaining accurate results. We also demonstrate that the performance obtained with this algorithm can approach idealized cases for improved devices. For the considered simplified architecture and 300 K temperature difference, we find a power density output of 3 kW.m −2 , underlining the potential for waste heat harvesting close to ambient temperature.

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High temperature characterization of GaAs single junction solar cells

Cited by 21 publications

References 14 publications

Theoretical efficiency of hybrid solar thermoelectric-photovoltaic generators

Theoretical efficiency of hybrid solar thermoelectric-photovoltaic generators

High-Temperature Polarization-Free III-Nitride Solar Cells with Self-Cooling Effects

GaAs-Based Near-Field Thermophotonic Devices: Approaching The Idealized Case With One-Dimensional PN Junctions

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