An AlGaAs/GaAs Concentrator Solar Cell Operating at High Concentration Ratios without Forced Cooling

A 1×1 cm 2 p-AlGaAs/p-GaAs/n-GaAs concentrator solar cell operating at high concentration ratios without forced cooling is described. The cell has a fairly large junction depth (the thickness of the p-GaAs layer) of 3 µm which reduces the sheet resistance of the surface layer and permits the use of a relatively crude contact grid pattern which is easily fabricated. The cell has its highest fill factor of 0.889 at 50–100 suns and its highest efficiency of 22.7% at 50–200 suns, and also maintains a practical efficiency of 17.6% even at 1025 suns without forced cooling.