Advances in high-efficiency GaAs solar cells

Abstract

The development of GaAs solar cells having a 1-sun, AM1.5 efficiency of 24.8% and a concentrator having an AM1.5 efficiency of 28.7% at 200 suns (both independently measured) is described. Corresponding AM0 efficiencies are 21.7 and 24.5%. These are among the highest independently verified efficiencies for single-junction cells without cover glasses. The reasons for the efficiency improvements are discussed. One-sun efficiencies over 26% in the near term are projected, showing that GaAs cells have not yet reached their practical efficiency limits.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>