Category: Nanophysics of Solar and Renewable Energy

GaAs Epitaxially Grown Solar Cells

GaAs, as shown in Figure 6.3, has a suitable bandgap and direct absorption structure for solar cells. GaAlAs layers can be grown epitaxially by liquid and vapor-phase methods. Figure 6.7a shows an excellent cell using GaAlAs layers. Features of this single-junction multilayer AlGaAs/GaAs solar cell include a thin p-AlGaAs window, grown by low-temperature liquid-phase epitaxy, […]

Low-Cost Tandem Technology: Amorphous Silicon:H-Based Solar Cells

We have spoken earlier about the optical absorption of crystalline Si as being relatively small because of the indirect bandgap. This was shown in Figure 6.3 and led to the with irradiation intensity of100 mW/cm2(about one sun). The tandem cell shows short-circuit current density 7.8 mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage 1.2 V, and power efficiency 6.5%. texturing […]

Possibilities for Dual-Purpose Thin-Film Tandem Cell Devices

One might imagine a monolithic dual-purpose self-regulating photoelectrochemical device comprised of a multijunction tandem solar cell, electrolytic cell, and power sharing circuitry. The tandem cell structure at illumination will be efficient inherently by using several different gaps. Its series structure will give an open-circuit voltage larger than that necessary to decompose water. The excess photovoltage […]