III-V compounds for solar cell applications

Abstract.Research activities in the field of III-V solar cells are reviewed. III-V compound semiconductors are used for space solar cells, concentrator solar cells, and in thermophotovoltaic generators. The epitaxial growth of ternary and quaternary material by MOVPE and LPE allows us to realize various band gaps. Multi-junction solar cells with different band gaps are necessary to obtain efficiencies larger than 30%. Recent results of the III-V solar cell research at the Fraunhofer ISE are presented. A mechanically stacked GaAs/GaSb tandem concentrator solar cell achieved an efficiency of 31.1% under 100×AM1.5d. An efficiency of 23% for a two-terminal concentrator module (486 cm2) with Fresnel lenses has been measured under realistic outdoor conditions.