Buffer layer between a planar optical concentrator and a solar cell

The effect of inserting a buffer layer between a periodically multilayered isotropic dielectric (PMLID) material acting as a planar optical concentrator and a photovoltaic solar cell was theoretically investigated. The substitution of the photovoltaic material by a cheaper dielectric material in a l...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:AIP advances 2015-09, Vol.5 (9), p.097150-097150-12
Hauptverfasser: Solano, Manuel E., Barber, Greg D., Lakhtakia, Akhlesh, Faryad, Muhammad, Monk, Peter B., Mallouk, Thomas E.
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The effect of inserting a buffer layer between a periodically multilayered isotropic dielectric (PMLID) material acting as a planar optical concentrator and a photovoltaic solar cell was theoretically investigated. The substitution of the photovoltaic material by a cheaper dielectric material in a large area of the structure could reduce the fabrication costs without significantly reducing the efficiency of the solar cell. Both crystalline silicon (c-Si) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) were considered as the photovoltaic material. We found that the buffer layer can act as an antireflection coating at the interface of the PMLID and the photovoltaic materials, and the structure increases the spectrally averaged electron-hole pair density by 36% for c-Si and 38% for GaAs compared to the structure without buffer layer. Numerical evidence indicates that the optimal structure is robust with respect to small changes in the grating profile.
ISSN:2158-3226
2158-3226
DOI:10.1063/1.4931386