• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.109-118
• /
• 2018

Silicon (Si) solar cells are the most successful technology which are ruling the present photovoltaic (PV) market. In that essence, multijunction (MJ) solar cells provided a new path to improve the state-of-art efficiencies. There are so many hurdles to grow the MJ III-V materials on Si substrate as Si with other materials often demands similar qualities, so it is needed to realize the prospective of Si tandem solar cells. However, Si tandem solar cells with MJ III-V materials have shown the maximum efficiency of 30 %. This work reviews the development of the III-V/Si solar cells with the synopsis of various growth mechanisms i.e hetero-epitaxy, wafer bonding and mechanical stacking of III-V materials on Si substrate. Theoretical approaches to design efficient tandem cell with an analysis of state-of-art silicon solar cells, sensitivity, difficulties and their probable solutions are discussed in this work. An analytical model which yields the practical efficiency values to design the high efficiency III-V/Si solar cells is described briefly.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.36 no.5
• /
• pp.442-453
• /
• 2023

Tandem or multijunction solar cells (MJSCs) can convert sunlight into electricity with higher efficiency (η) than single junction solar cells (SJSCs) by dividing the solar irradiance over sub-cells having distinct bandgaps. The efficiencies of various common SJSC materials are close to the edge of their theoretical efficiency and hence there is a tremendous growing interest in utilizing the tandem/multijunction technique. Recently, III-V materials integration on a silicon substrate has been broadly investigated in the development of III-V on Si tandem solar cells. Numerous growth techniques such as heteroepitaxial growth, wafer bonding, and mechanical stacking are crucial for better understanding of high-quality III-V epitaxial layers on Si. As the choice of growth method and substrate selection can significantly impact the quality and performance of the resulting tandem cell and the terminal configuration exhibit a vital role in the overall proficiency. Parallel and Series-connected configurations have been studied, each with its advantage and disadvantages depending on the application and cell configuration. The optimization of both growth mechanisms and terminal configurations is necessary to further improve efficiency and lessen the cost of III-V on Si tandem solar cells. In this review article, we present an overview of the growth mechanisms and terminal configurations with the areas of research that are crucial for the commercialization of III-V on Si tandem solar cells.

• Electrical & Electronic Materials
• /
• v.11 no.11
• /
• pp.37-45
• /
• 1998

In this paper, present status of super high-efficiency tandem solar cells has been reviewed and key issues for realizing super high-efficiency have also been discussed. In addition, the terretrial R&D activities of tandem cells, in the New Sunshine Program of MITI(Ministry of International Trade and Industry) and NEDO(New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) in Japan are reviewed briefly. The mechanical stacked 3-junction cells of monolithically grown InGaP/GaAs 2-junction cells and InGaAs cells have reached the highest efficiency achieved in Japan of 33.3% at 1-sun AM1.5. This paper also reports high-efficiency InGaP/GaAs 2-junction solar cells with a world-record efficiency of 26.9% at AM0, 28$^{\circ}C$ and radiation damage recovery phenomena of the tandem cell performance due to minority-carrier injection under light illumination or forward bias, which causes defect annealing in InGaP top cells. Future prospects for realizing super-high efficiency and low-cost tandem solar cells are also described.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 1995.05a
• /
• pp.172-176
• /
• 1995

Schemes to trap weakly absorbed light into the cell have played an important role in improving the efficiency of both amorphous and crystlline silicon solar cells. One class of scheme relies on randomizing the direction of light within the cell by use of Lambertian(diffuse)surfaces. A second class of scheme relies on the use fo well defined geometrical features to control the direction of light wihin the cell, Widly used geometrical features in crystalline silicon solar cells are the square based pyramids and V-shaped grooves formed in (100) orientated surfaces by intersecting(III) crystallographic planes exposed by anisotropic etching. 18.5% conversion efficiency of Buried Contact Solar Cell with pyramidally textured surface has been achieved. 18.5% efficiency of silicon solar cell is one the highest record in the world The efficieny of cell without textured surface was 16.6%, When adapting textured surface to the Cell, the efficiency has been improved over 12%.

• Solar Energy
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.137-146
• /
• 1998

In this paper, the current status of manufacturing technologies for GaAs/Si solar cell were revived and provied new MOCVD. In the manufacturing process of GaAs/Si solar cells and an experiment to get the high efficiency GaAs solar cells, we must investigate the optimum growth conditions to get high quality GaAs films on Si substrates by MOCVD. The GaAs on Si substrates has been recognized as a lightweight alternative to pure substrate for space applicaton. Because its density is less the half of GaAs or Ge.So GaAs/Si has twofold weight advantage to GaAs monolithic cell. The theoretical conversion efficiecy limit of tandem GaAs/Si solar cell is 32% under AM 0 and $25^{\circ}C$ condition. It was concluded that the development of cost effective MOCVD technologies shoud be ahead GaAs solar cells for achived move high efficiency III-V solar cells involving tandem structure.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.235-235
• /
• 2007

• Current Photovoltaic Research
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.76-84
• /
• 2019

Silicon heterojunction solar cells (SHJ) have dominated the photovoltaic market up till now but their conversion performance is practically limited to around 26% compared with the theoretical efficiency limit of 29.4%. A silicon based multi-junction devices are expected to overcome this limitation. In this report, we briefly review the state-of-art characteristic of wide-gap materials which has played a role as top sub-cells in silicon based multi-junction solar cells. In addition, we indicate significantly practical challenges and key issues of these multi-junction combination. Finally, we focus to some characteristics of III-V/c-Si tandem configuration which are reaching highly record performance in multi-junction silicon solar cells.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.82-88
• /
• 2011

The artificial increase in the solar intensity incident on solar cells using lenses or mirrors can allow solar cells to generate equivalent power with a lower cost. There are two types of concentration optics for solar energy conversion. One is to use mirrors, and the other is to use Fresnel lenses. The gains that can be achieved with a Fresnel lens or a parabolic mirror are compared. The result showed the gains are comparable and the two configurations were developed competitively. In application areas of Fresnel lenses as solar concentrators, several variations of design were devised and tested. Some PV systems still use commercially available flat Fresnel lenses as concentrators. A convex linear Fresnel lens to improve the concentration ratio and the efficiency is devised and flat linear Fresnel lens in thermal energy collection is utilized. In this study, we designed and optimized flat Fresnel lens and the 'light pipe' to develop 500X concentrated solar PV system. In the process, we compare the transmission efficiencies according to groove types. We performed rigorous ray tracing simulation of the flat Fresnel lenses. The computer aided simulation showed the 'grooves in case' has the better efficiency than that of 'grooves out case'. Based on the ray-trace results we designed and manufactured sample Fresnel lenses. The optical performance were measured and compared with ray-trace results. Finally, the optical efficiency was measured to be above 75%. All the design and manufacturing were performed based on that InGaP/InGaAs/Ge triple junction solar cell is used to convert the photon energy to electrical power. Field test will be made and analyzed in the near future.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2010.06a
• /
• pp.241-241
• /
• 2010

Recently high and persistent spontaneous buildup of a surface potential (SP) upon vacuum deposition of tris (8-hydroxyquinolinato) aluminum (III) ($Alq_3$), which is widely used for organic light emitting devices. The removal of the giant surface potential by visible light irradiation has also been reported. In this study, we coated $Alq_3$ on the FTO substrate and raise the capacity for absorbing sun light. The $Alq_3$ which is green light emitting diode emits light at wavelengths between 500 and 550nm. If we apply one's FTO/$Alq_3$ substrate in one's DSSC, we could get higher energy conversion efficiency because the N719 dye that we used for fabricating the DSSC emits light just at near 540nm. The energy conversion efficiency of approximately 4.8 % at the condition of irradiation of AM 1.5 (100 mW/$cm^2$) simulated sunlight, and the $J_{sc}$ is 12.0 mA/$cm^2$, $V_{oc}$ is 0.71 V, FF is 0.56, respectively.