Theoretical limits of the multistacked 1D and 2D microstructured inorganic solar cells

Emre Yengel; Hakan Karaagac; Logeeswaran VJ; M. Saif Islam

doi:10.1117/12.2188355

5 September 2015 Theoretical limits of the multistacked 1D and 2D microstructured inorganic solar cells

Emre Yengel, Hakan Karaagac, Logeeswaran VJ, M. Saif Islam

Proceedings Volume 9561, Thin Films for Solar and Energy Technology VII; 956103 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2188355
Event: SPIE Optics + Photonics for Sustainable Energy, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Recent studies in monocrystalline semiconductor solar cells are focused on mechanically stacking multiple cells from different materials to increase the power conversion efficiency. Although, the results show promising increase in the device performance, the cost remains as the main drawback. In this study, we calculated the theoretical limits of multistacked 1D and 2D microstructered inorganic monocrstalline solar cells. This system is studied for Si and Ge material pair. The results show promising improvements in the surface reflection due to enhanced light trapping caused by photon-microstructures interactions. The theoretical results are also supported with surface reflection and angular dependent power conversion efficiency measurements of 2D axial microwall solar cells. We address the challenge of cost reduction by proposing to use our recently reported mass-manufacturable fracture-transfer- printing method which enables the use of a monocrystalline substrate wafer for repeated fabrication of devices by consuming only few microns of materials in each layer of devices. We calculated thickness dependent power conversion efficiencies of multistacked Si/Ge microstructured solar cells and found the power conversion efficiency to saturate at 26% with a combined device thickness of 30 μm. Besides having benefits of fabricating low-cost, light weight, flexible, semi-transparent, and highly efficient devices, the proposed fabrication method is applicable for other III-V materials and compounds to further increase the power conversion efficiency above 35% range.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Emre Yengel, Hakan Karaagac, Logeeswaran VJ, and M. Saif Islam "Theoretical limits of the multistacked 1D and 2D microstructured inorganic solar cells", Proc. SPIE 9561, Thin Films for Solar and Energy Technology VII, 956103 (5 September 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2188355

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