On the Use of Rau's Reciprocity to Deduce External Radiative Efficiency in Solar Cells

Rau's reciprocity relation has been used to deduce the external radiative efficiency of a wide variety of solar cells using just standard solar cell measurements, but it is based on a number of assumptions, some of which may not be valid for typical thin-film solar cells. In this paper, we use rigorous optical simulations, coupled with carrier transport simulations, to examine some common thin-film solar cells. The results provide guidance on when the Rau relation can be used, why it can fail, and the magnitude of the errors that can be expected in practice.

[1]  E. Yablonovitch,et al.  Limiting efficiency of silicon solar cells , 1984, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[2]  Eli Yablonovitch,et al.  Ultrahigh spontaneous emission quantum efficiency, 99.7% internally and 72% externally, from AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs double heterostructures , 1993 .

[3]  J. Bhosale.  High signal-to-noise Fourier transform spectroscopy with light emitting diode sources. , 2011, The Review of scientific instruments.

[4]  A. Kylner.  Effect of impurities in the CdS buffer layer on the performance of the Cu(In, Ga)Se2 thin film solar cell , 1999 .

[5]  R. Ahrenkiel.  Influence of junctions on photoluminescence decay in thin-film devices , 1987 .

[6]  U. Rau,et al.  Superposition and Reciprocity in the Electroluminescence and Photoluminescence of Solar Cells , 2012, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics.

[7]  Isik C. Kizilyalli,et al.  27.6% Conversion efficiency, a new record for single-junction solar cells under 1 sun illumination , 2011, 2011 37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference.

[8]  Martin A. Green,et al.  Radiative efficiency of state‐of‐the‐art photovoltaic cells , 2012 .

[9]  Arne Roos,et al.  Use of an integrating sphere in solar energy research , 1993 .

[10]  J. Werner,et al.  Comparative study of electroluminescence from Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and Si solar cells , 2007 .

[11]  Richard Corkish,et al.  Very efficient light emission from bulk crystalline silicon , 2003 .

[12]  Eli Yablonovitch,et al.  Auger recombination in silicon at low carrier densities , 1986 .

[13]  Xufeng Wang,et al.  Design of GaAs Solar Cells Operating Close to the Shockley–Queisser Limit , 2013, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics.

[14]  C. Donolato.  A reciprocity theorem for charge collection , 1985 .

[15]  M. Burgelman,et al.  Effects of the Au/CdTe back contact on IV and CV characteristics of Au/CdTe/CdS/TCO solar cells. , 1997 .

[16]  Uwe Rau,et al.  Reciprocity relation between photovoltaic quantum efficiency and electroluminescent emission of solar cells , 2007 .

[17]  R. Klenk,et al.  Defects in Cu(In, Ga) Se2 semiconductors and their role in the device performance of thin‐film solar cells , 1997 .

[18]  J. Sites,et al.  Effect of back-contact barrier on thin-film CdTe solar cells , 2006 .

[19]  W. Shockley,et al.  Photon-Radiative Recombination of Electrons and Holes in Germanium , 1954 .

[20]  V. Deline,et al.  Defects in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Chalcopyrite Semiconductors: A Comparative Study of Material Properties, Defect States, and Photovoltaic Performance , 2011 .

[21]  J. Sites,et al.  Explanation of Light/Dark Superposition Failure in CIGS Solar Cells , 2003 .

[22]  Mark S. Lundstrom,et al.  Photoluminescence Excitation Spectroscopy for In-Line Optical Characterization of Crystalline Solar Cells , 2013, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics.

[23]  Martin A. Green,et al.  Solar cell efficiency tables (version 39) , 2012 .

[24]  Mark S. Lundstrom,et al.  The physics of Vbi-related IV crossover in thin film solar cells: Applications to ink deposited CZTSSe , 2013, 2013 IEEE 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC).

[25]  Martin A. Green,et al.  Solar cell efficiency tables (version 40) , 2012 .

[26]  W. Shafarman,et al.  Optical characterization of CuIn1−xGaxSe2 alloy thin films by spectroscopic ellipsometry , 2003 .

[27]  Thorsten Trupke,et al.  Application of photoluminescence characterization to the development and manufacturing of high-efficiency silicon solar cells , 2006 .