Studies on the Performance of a GaInP/GaAs Tandem Solar Cell at Elevated Temperatures

In this paper theoretical studies have been performed on a multijunction GaInP/GaAs based tandem solar cell. The top GaInP cell and the bottom GaAs cell were investigated separately. At an operating temperature of 300K, the current matching condition is fulfilled when the top cell and bottom cell base doping concentration and thickness are set to 5x10 15 /cm 3 , 1μm, and 2x10 17 /cm 3 , 0.127μm respectively. For the purpose of the investigation, a wide operating temperature range was chosen from 25oC to 100oC. The optimized tandem solar cell structure having a thickness of 1.847 microns is found to have VOC=2.2996V, ISC=0.0136Amp/cm 2 , FF=87.61% and ɳ=27.4% under AM1.5G one sun illumination. Studies have also revealed that when the cells are analyzed separately the current mismatch is less significant at low temperatures with the difference becoming notable at higher temperatures. Simulations of the solar cell were performed using PC1D.

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