A performance comparison between GaInP-on-Si and GaAs-on-Si 3-terminal tandem solar cells

Kaitlyn T VanSant; Emily L Warren; John F Geisz; Talysa R Klein; Steve Johnston; William E McMahon; Henning Schulte-Huxel; Michael Rienäcker; Robby Peibst; Adele C Tamboli

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104950

A performance comparison between GaInP-on-Si and GaAs-on-Si 3-terminal tandem solar cells

iScience. 2022 Aug 19;25(9):104950. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104950. eCollection 2022 Sep 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Physics Department, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA.
² National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USA.
³ Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin, 31860 Emmerthal, Germany.

Abstract

The pursuit of ever-higher solar cell efficiencies has focused heavily on multijunction technologies. In tandem cells, subcells are typically either contacted via two terminals (2T) or four terminals (4T). Simulations show that the less-common three-terminal (3T) design may be comparable to 4T tandem cells in its compatibility with a range of materials, operating conditions, and methods for subcell integration, yet the 3T design circumvents shading losses of the 4T intermediate conductive layers. This study analyzes the performance of two superstrate 3T III-V-on-Si (III-V//Si) tandem cells: One has slightly greater current contribution from the Si bottom cell (GaInP//Si) and the other has substantially greater current contribution from the GaAs top cell (GaAs//Si). Our results show that both tandem cells exhibit the same efficiency (21.3%), thereby demonstrating that the third terminal allows for flexibility in the selection of the top cell material, similar to the 4T design.

Keywords: Electronic materials; Energy materials; Materials science.