Tandem GaSb/InGaAsSb thermophotovoltaic cells

Abstract

Computer modelling of a tandem TPV system has been carried out. The monolithic GaSb/lnSaAsSb tandem TPV devices have been designed and fabricated by LPE.

Detailed balance evaluation of tandem thermophotovoltaic devices residing on 6.1Å Sb-based alloys

“…Given that the extensive shortage of the non-radiative recombination parameters for Sb-based alloys, an ideal (lowest) dark current density J i d , only limited by the radiative recombination process, is employed for each subcell, yielding [12,27] …”

“…Following this scheme, device efficiency larger than 40% has been demonstrated in GaAs-based tandem cells [10,11]. However, little was known about the feasible tandem TPV converters [12][13][14][15] due to the shortage of high quality, lattice-matched narrow bandgap materials. For instance, Wehrer and coauthors [14,15] previously fabricated a GaInAs/InAsP tandem TPV converter, achieving the device open-circuit voltage (V OC ) up to 0.6 V. However, besides the expensive InP substrate they used, complex buffer layers should be employed to relax the latticemismatched strain between the subcells, thus creating some unexpected difficulties for the cost-effective TPV electricity generation.…”

“…Experimentally, the Sb-based converters with E g ranging from 0.5 to 0.72 eV have been reported [17][18][19] and equipped into the realistic TPV systems [1], establishing a solid material base to flexibly design the TPV tandem converters. For instance, in an initial effort, Andreev et al [12] experimentally reported a monolithic GaSb/GaInAsSb dual-junction (2J) cell with V OC ¼ 0.61 V being comparable to that of InGaAs-based counterparts, rendering clearly the appealing application of Sb-based tandem converters as more powerful TPV cells.…”

Optimum semiconductor bandgaps in single junction and multijunction thermophotovoltaic converters

“…However, this study demonstrates that this drawback may be overcome by using multijunction TPV cells. Although experimental work on multijunction TPV cell structures has been presented previously [38][39][40][41][42], a thorough theoretical analysis on their potential for TPV energy conversion is missing. This paper presents a global optimization of single junction and multijunction TPV devices comprising cut-off spectral control elements.…”

Survey of Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) Devices

“…Andreev et al. [93] reported one of the earlier versions of a tandem TPV cell in the InGaAsSb/GaSb materials system ( Figure 34). This device was in part an adaptation of components first developed for tandem concentrator solar cells.…”