Minimizing shadow losses in III-nitride solar cells

Andrew Melton; Balakrishnam Jampana; Robert Opila; Christiana Honsberg; Muhammad Jamil; Ian Ferguson

doi:10.1117/12.829264

20 August 2009 Minimizing shadow losses in III-nitride solar cells

Andrew Melton, Balakrishnam Jampana, Robert Opila, Christiana Honsberg, Muhammad Jamil, Ian Ferguson

Proceedings Volume 7409, Thin Film Solar Technology; 740916 (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.829264
Event: SPIE Solar Energy + Technology, 2009, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

In this work InGa_0.85N p-n homojunction solar cells were grown by MOCVD on GaN/sapphire substrates and fabricated using standard techniques. When illuminated from the backside, these devices showed 65.9% improvement in J_SC and 4.4% improvement in V_OC as compared to identical illumination from the front. These improvements arise from removal of the losses from electrical contact shading on the front of the devices (11.7% of active area), as well as significant optical absorption by the top current spreading layer. These improvements can likely be further enhanced by utilizing double-side polished wafers, which would eliminate scattering losses on the back surface. In addition to improving electrical characteristics of single cells, backside illumination is necessary for the realization of monolithic tandem InGaN solar cells.

Citation Download Citation

Andrew Melton, Balakrishnam Jampana, Robert Opila, Christiana Honsberg, Muhammad Jamil, and Ian Ferguson "Minimizing shadow losses in III-nitride solar cells", Proc. SPIE 7409, Thin Film Solar Technology, 740916 (20 August 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.829264

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