National Institute of Technology Rourkela

राष्ट्रीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान राउरकेला

ଜାତୀୟ ପ୍ରଯୁକ୍ତି ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠାନ ରାଉରକେଲା

An Institute of National Importance

Seminar Details

Seminar Title:
Design of InGaP//GaAs Thin-film Tandem Solar Cell Architecture for Challenging Environments
Seminar Type:
Departmental Seminar
Department:
Electrical Engineering
Speaker Name:
Sakti Prasanna Muduli (521ee1013)
Speaker Type:
Student
Venue:
EE Seminar Room (EE-205)
Date and Time:
11 Mar 2025 5:30 PM
Contact:
Prof. Paresh Kale (Phone: 2447)
Abstract:
The power conversion efficiency of the single junction solar cell is approaching the theoretical limits, which leads to the development of tandem cells. Among various solar cell materials, compound semiconductors such as GaAs and InGaP are the large band gap materials preferred for multijunction solar cells. Besides the broad-spectrum absorption, GaAs and InGaP possess high-temperature stability, radiation resistance, longer minority carrier lifetime, and higher electron mobilities compared to the widely used Si for photovoltaics. The work reports the simulated InGaP//GaAs thin film tandem cell architectures to enhance the overall cell efficiency. The optimization of the doping concentration and the active layer thickness of the InGaP top cell lead to 30.7% efficiency under standard illumination. The optimized thickness of the n-type emitter and p-type absorber layer of the InGaP top cell are 100 nm and 6 µm, respectively. The filtered spectrum is generated from the InGaP top cell for optical coupling. The optimized GaAs bottom cell is 9.1% efficient under filtered spectrum for emitter thickness of 50 nm and absorber thickness of 10 µm. The two-terminal (2T) and four-terminal (4T) tandem configuration are 37.2% and 39.8%, respectively. The bonding of the tandem architecture considers a transparent ideal insulator and conductor for 4T and 2T architecture, respectively. The optimized cell configuration is also tested for high-temperature (up to 450 K) and low-illumination (0.1 Sun) conditions. As the proposed cell is a thin-film tandem cell with minimal material utilization, it sets a new avenue in photovoltaics for space applications.