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High-Efficiency Multijunction Solar Cells

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Frank Dimroth  and
Sarah Kurtz
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Abstract

The efficiency of a solar cell can be increased by stacking multiple solar cells with a range of bandgap energies, resulting in a multijunction solar cell with a maximum the oretical efficiency limit of 86.8% III–V compound semiconductors are good candidates for fabricating such multijunction solar cells for two reasons: they can be grown with excellent material quality; and their bandgaps span a wide spectral range, mostly with direct bandgaps, implying a high absorption coefficient. These factors are the reason for the success of this technology, which has achieved 39% efficiency, the highest solar-to-electric conversion efficiency of any photovoltaic device to date. This article explores the materials science of today's high-efficiency multijunction cells and describes challenges associated with new materials developments and how they may lead to next-generation, multijunction solar cell concepts.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Bulletin , Volume 32 , Issue 3: Advanced Inorganic Materials for Photovoltaics , March 2007 , pp. 230 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2007

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