Theoretical modeling and optimization of III–V GaInP/GaAs/Ge monolithic triple-junction solar cells

Abstract

We design and optimize monolithic III–V GaInP/GaAs/Ge triple-junction (TJ) solar cells by using a commercial software Silvaco ATLAS simulator to obtain the maximum short-circuit current density J sc . The maximum J sc , which is a current matching value between the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells, can be determined by varying the base thicknesses of the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells. From the numerical simulation results, a matched maximum J sc value of 13.92 mA/cm2 is obtained at base thicknesses of 0.57 μm and 3 μm for the GaInP top and GaAs middle subcells, respectively, under 1-sun air mass 1.5 global spectrum illumination, leading to a high power conversion efficiency of 30.72%. The open-circuit voltage and the fill factor are 2.55 V and 86.55%, respectively. For the optimized cell structure, the external quantum efficiency and the photogeneration rate distributions are also investigated. To obtain efficient antireflection coatings (ARCs), we perform optical reflectance calculations by using a rigorous coupled-wave analysis method. For this, a silicon oxide/titanium oxide double-layer is used as an ARC on the TJ solar cell.