A systematic study was performed with a coupled optoelectronic model to examine the effect of the concentration of sunlight on the efficiencies of CIGS, CZTSSe and AlGaAs thin-film solar cells with a graded-bandgap absorber layer. Efficiencies of 34.6% for CIGS thin-film solar cells and 29.9% for CZTSSe thin-film solar cells are predicted with a concentration of 100 suns, the respective one-sun efficiencies being 27.7% and 21.7%. An efficiency of 36.7% is predicted for AlGaAs thin-film solar cells with a concentration of 60 suns, in comparison to 34.5% one-sun efficiency. Sunlight concentration does not affect the per-sun electron–hole-pair (EHP) generation rate but reduces the per-sun EHP recombination rate either near the front and back faces or in the graded-bandgap regions of the absorber layer, depending upon the semiconductor used for that layer, and this is the primary reason for the improvement in efficiency. Other effects include the enhancement of open-circuit voltage, which can be positively correlated to the higher short-circuit current density. Sunlight concentration can therefore play a significant role in enhancing the efficiency of thin-film solar cells.
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Nonlinear effects in modeling thin-film graded-bandgap solar cells
We model the e ect of concentrated sunlight on CIGS thin- lm graded-bandgap solar cells using an optoelectronic numerical model. For this purpose it is necessary first to solve the time-harmonic Maxwell equations to compute the electric eld in the device due to sunlight and so obtain the electron-hole-pair generation rate. The generation rate is then used as input to a drift-diffusion model governing the flow of electrons and holes in the semiconductor components that predicts the current generated. The optical submodel is linear; however, the electrical submodel is nonlinear. Because the Shockley{Read{Hall contribution to the electron-hole recombination rate increases almost linearly at high electron/hole densities, the effciency of the solar cell can improve with sunlight concentration. This is illustrated via a numerical study.
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- PAR ID:
- 10429383
- Editor(s):
- Subramania, Ganapathi S.; Foteinopoulou, Stavroula
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proc. SPIE 12196, Active Photonic Platforms 2022
- Volume:
- 121960D
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 81
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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