Enhanced Efficiency of Graded-Bandgap Thin-Film Solar Cells due to Concentrated Sunlight

A systematic study was performed with a coupled optoelectronic model to examine the effect of the concentration of sunlight on the efficiencies of CIGS, CZTSSe, and AlGaAs thin-film solar cells with a graded-bandgap absorber layer. An efficiency of 34.6% for CIGS thin-film solar cells and an efficiency of 29.9% for CZTSSe thin-film solar cells are predicted with a concentration of {one} hundred suns, the respective one-sun efficiencies being 27.7% and 21.7%. An efficiency of 36.7% is predicted for AlGaAs thin-film solar cells with a concentration of sixty suns, in comparison to 34.5% one-sun efficiency. Sunlight concentration does not affect the per-sun electron-hole-pair (EHP) generation rate but reduces the per-sun EHP recombination rate either near the front and back faces or in the graded-bandgap regions of the absorber layer, depending upon the semiconductor used for that layer, and this is the primary reason for the improvement in the efficiency. Other effects include the enhancement of open-circuit voltage which can be positively correlated to the higher short-circuit current density. Sunlight concentration can therefore play a significant role in enhancing the efficiency of thin-film solar cells.

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Work Title Enhanced Efficiency of Graded-Bandgap Thin-Film Solar Cells due to Concentrated Sunlight
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Akhlesh Lakhtakia
  2. Faiz Ahmad
  3. Peter B. Monk
Keyword
  1. solar cell efficiency
  2. sunlight concentration
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publication Date December 1, 2021
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. 10.1364/AO.442590
Deposited November 27, 2021

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  • Added Creator Akhlesh Lakhtakia
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    License
    • https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
  • Published
  • Added Creator Faiz Ahmad
  • Added Creator Peter B. Monk
  • Updated Keyword Show Changes
    Keyword
    • solar cell efficiency, sunlight concentration
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