Feasibility study of two-terminal tandem solar cells integrated with smart stack, areal current matching, and low concentration

Abstract

The “SMAC module” is a low-cost, high-efficiency photovoltaic module that integrates three techniques: a “SMart stack,” “Areal current matching,” and “solar Concentration.” This paper presents the result of a proof-of-concept study of the SMAC module conducted using device simulations and indoor experiments. The simulation results show that an SMAC module with a two-terminal GaAs/Si tandem solar cell can achieve an efficiency of approximately 30% and superior electricity generation per unit top cell area. The performance of the GaAs/Si solar cell developed in this study is similar to that of a GaAs/InGaAsP solar cell under concentrated artificial sunlight and is consistent with the simulation results. © 2016 The Authors. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.