Design and Performance Analysis of Hetero Multijunction Silicon Solar Cells

Abstract

A primary goal of terrestrial photovoltaic is to reach grid cost parity. This is a difficult task, largely due to seemingly inverse relationship between the efficiency and cost. Multijunction III/V solar cells on active Si substrate may break this relationship by providing high efficiency with much lower material cost than traditional concentrator solar cells. This paper employs device models in analysis of short- and long-term performance goals and expectations for this material system. The modeling results presented here indicate that III/V on an active Si technology may be anticipated to achieve nearly 48% efficiency at 600 suns concentration in long-term, high volume manufacturing regime and almost 39% in short-term.