Degradation of subcells and tunnel junctions during growth of GaInP/Ga(In)As/GaNAsSb/Ge 4‐junction solar cells. (15th September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: García, Ivan; Ochoa, Mario; Lombardero, Iván; Cifuentes, Luis; Hinojosa, Manuel; Caño, Pablo; Rey‐Stolle, Ignacio; Algora, Carlos; Johnson, Andrew; Davies, Iwan; Tan, Kian Hua; Loke, Wan Khai; Wicaksono, Satrio; Yoon, Soon Fatt
• Is Part Of: Progress in photovoltaics. Volume 25:Number 11(2017)
• Page Start: 887
• Page End: 895
• Publication Date: 2017-09-15
• Subjects: degradation -- dilute nitride -- 4‐junction solar cell -- MOVPE -- thermal load; Solar cells -- Periodicals; Photovoltaic cells -- Periodicals; Solar power plants -- Periodicals; 621.31245
• DOI: 10.1002/pip.2930
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1062-7995

Abstract

Abstract: A GaInP/Ga(In)As/GaNAsSb/Ge 4J solar cell grown using the combined MOVPE + MBE method is presented. This structure is used as a test bench to assess the effects caused by the integration of subcells and tunnel junctions into the full 4J structure. A significant degradation of the Ge bottom subcell emitter is observed during the growth of the GaNAsSb subcell, with a drop in the carrier collection efficiency at the high energy photon range that causes a ~15% lower Jsc and a Voc drop of ~50 mV at 1‐sun. The Voc of the GaNAsSb subcell is shown to drop by as much as ~140 mV at 1‐sun. No degradation in performance is observed in the tunnel junctions, and no further degradation is neither observed for the Ge subcell during the growth of the GaInP/Ga(In)As subcells. The hindered efficiency potential in this lattice‐matched 4J architecture due to the degradation of the Ge and GaNAsSb subcells is discussed. Abstract : A GaInP/Ga(In)As/GaNAsSb/Ge 4J solar cell grown by MOVPE + MBE is presented. A significant degradation of the Ge and GaNAsSb subcells during their integration into a full 4J structure is observed, caused by the heavy thermal loads they are subjected to. This degradation poses an important limitation to the performance potential of this 4J solar cell architecture.