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Increasing the Efficiency of Triple-Junction Solar Cells Due to the Metamorphic InGaAs Subcell

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Abstract

The efficiency of GaInP/GaAs/InxGa1 – xAs triple-junction solar cells obtained by replacing (in the widely used “classical” GaInP/GaAs/Ge heterostructure) the lower germanium with InxGa1 – xAs subcell formed using the metamorphic growth technology has been investigated. Based on an original approach, the optimal indium concentration in the narrow-gap subcell has been found. The main parameters of InxGa1 – xAs subcells with an indium concentration from x = 0.11 to 0.36 were determined and were used to calculate the IV characteristics of GaInP/GaAs/InxGa1 – xAs solar cells. It has been determined that at x = 0.28 the efficiency of the triple-junction solar cell increases by 3.4% (abs.) in comparison with the “classical” solar cell, reaching a value of 40.3% (AM1.5D). Also it has been shown that the efficiency of such solar cells can be increased up to 41%.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank A.A. Usikova for carrying out the post-growth operations.

Funding

The work was carried out with support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant 19-08-00881 A).

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Correspondence to M. A. Mintairov.

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Mintairov, M.A., Evstropov, V.V., Mintairov, S.A. et al. Increasing the Efficiency of Triple-Junction Solar Cells Due to the Metamorphic InGaAs Subcell. Tech. Phys. Lett. 49 (Suppl 2), S81–S84 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063785023900431

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