Advantages of quantum well solar cells for TPV

Publication Type

Conference Proceeding Article

Publication Date

1-1997

Abstract

We discuss the advantages of quantum well solar cells (QWSCs) for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) applications and illustrate them with a test cell grown in GaInAsP/InGaAs lattice-matched to InP but not optimised for TPV. It is shown that a GaInAsP quaternary cell with a bandgap of 1.1 mu m with 60 InGaAs QWs has an open circuit voltage of (1.7 +/- 0.1) times that of a homogeneous InGaAs cell under a narrow band ytterbia-like illuminating spectrum. Similar enhancements are observed under an erbia-like illumination and in a broad band illumination approximating a black body at 3000K. The quaternary cell absorbs a similar range of wavelengths close to the InGaAs cell. Also, better temperature coefficients for the QWSC than the control cell are observed in a spectrum approximating a black body at 3000K. A comparison is made between the QWSC and two other cells, one InGaAs and one Si, using published spectral response and illuminated current/voltage data. It is shown that whilst InGaAs has a higher power output in black body spectra and Si a higher power output in an ideal ytterbia spectra the QWSC has the highest output in a combination of 2000K black body and ytterbia spectra where 56% of the power output is in the ytterbia emission band. Possible improvements to this non-optimised QWSC are discussed.

Discipline

Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Research Areas

Information Systems and Management

Publication

Thermophotovoltaic generation of electricity: Third NREL Conference: Colorado Springs, CO, May 1997

Issue

401

First Page

411

Last Page

422

ISBN

9781563967344

Identifier

10.1063/1.53282

Publisher

AIP Press

City or Country

Woodbury NY

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.53282

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