Electrical passivation of III-V multijunction solar cells with luminescent coupling effect

Bernice Mae Yu Jeco-Espaldon, Ryo Tamaki, Maxime Giteau, Hao Xu, Nazmul Ahsan, Richard R. King, Yoshitaka Okada

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Perimeter recombination is one of the causes identified for having a nonuniform luminescent coupling effect in III-V multijunction solar cells. A potential solution could be the electrical passivation of the multijunction solar cell perimeter. To test this hypothesis, electrical passivation of InGaP/GaAs/Ge 3-junction solar cells was done by the atomic layer deposition of thin Al2O3 films. Perimeter passivation of a 3-junction solar cell relatively increased current collection measured at luminescent coupling and direct subcell excitation by as much as 11.4% and 29.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, the current homogeneity improved relatively by as much as 7.9% after electrical passivation. At 1-sun global standard illumination (AM 1.5G), 0.2% absolute conversion efficiency increase was achieved. Therefore, electrical passivation of fully working III-V multijunction solar cells is a non-invasive, post-treatment process that can recover losses due to surface defects caused by oxidation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number112045
JournalSolar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Volume249
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2023

Keywords

  • Atomic layer deposition
  • Current mapping
  • Luminescence coupling
  • Multijunction solar cell
  • Passivation
  • Recombination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films

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