Monolithic multi-junction III-V solar cells with optimal 1 eV subcell

具有最佳 1 eV 子电池的单片多结 III-V 太阳能电池

• 批准号: 506727-2017
• 负责人: Moutanabbir, Oussama
• 金额: $ 15.49万
• 依托单位: École Polytechnique de Montréal
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Strategic Projects - Group
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=642049
• 关键词: Monolithic; multi; junction; III; solar

The interest in III-V multi-junction solar cells is currently driven by space applications, but the largest potential market for these cells is certainly terrestrial. In this regard, terrestrial concentrator systems utilizing high-efficiency III-V multi-junction solar cells have been increasingly considered for large-scale generation of electrical power. However, this long-sought for integration of III-V multi-junction solar cells in large-scale consumer applications depends on the ability to establish new scalable technologies with higher efficiencies and significant material cost saving. The state-of-the-art multi-junction solar cells are grown on bulk gallium arsenide (GaAs) or germanium (Ge) substrates, which are prohibitively expensive. To circumvent these technological bottlenecks, this project aims at designing, developing, and optimizing a novel monolithic III-V multi-junction solar cells with an optimal 1eV subcell. The key strategy here is to introduce silicon-germanium-thin (SiGeSn) semiconductor in the fabrication of III-V solar cells. The proposed design consists of InGaP/InGaAs/SiGeSn/Ge junctions. The fact that SiGeSn bandgap can be tuned around 1eV while being lattice-matched to Ge will enable an optimal absorption of solar spectrum, which is central to further enhance the conversion efficiency. Moreover, the fact that high-crystalline quality SiGeSn and Ge layers can be grown on silicon wafers will also eliminate the need for bulk Ge and enable the integration of the proposed solar cells onto mechanically robust and inexpensive Si handle substrates. This is key to achieve the cost-effectiveness necessary for the development of large-scale, terrestrial applications of III-V solar cell technologies.

目前对III-V型多结太阳能电池的兴趣是由空间应用驱动的，但这些电池最大的潜在市场肯定是地面。在这方面，利用高效率III-V型多结太阳能电池的地面聚光系统已被越来越多地考虑用于大规模发电。然而，这种长期寻求的III-V多结太阳能电池在大规模消费应用中的集成取决于建立具有更高效率和显著材料成本节约的新可扩展技术的能力。最先进的多结太阳能电池生长在大块砷化镓（GaAs）或锗（Ge）衬底上，这是非常昂贵的。为了规避这些技术瓶颈，本项目旨在设计、开发和优化一种具有最佳1eV子电池的新型单片III-V多结太阳能电池。这里的关键策略是在III-V型太阳能电池的制造中引入硅锗薄（SiGeSn）半导体。该设计由InGaP/InGaAs/SiGeSn/Ge结组成。SiGeSn的带隙可以在1eV左右调谐，同时与Ge晶格匹配，这将使太阳光谱的吸收达到最佳状态，这是进一步提高转换效率的核心。此外，高晶体质量的SiGeSn和Ge层可以在硅片上生长，这一事实也将消除对大量Ge的需求，并使所提出的太阳能电池能够集成到机械坚固且廉价的硅处理衬底上。这是实现开发III-V型太阳能电池技术大规模地面应用所需的成本效益的关键。