Ideal Simulation of Al0.3Ga0.7As/InP/Ge Multijunction Solar Cells

Abstract

Abstract. Increasing the efficiency of solar cell is one of the most challenging tasks for material scientists nowadays. Computer simulation on the other hand, could be used to maximize this effort. In this paper we present our investigations on Al0.3Ga0.7As/InP/Ge multijunction solar cells. These multijunction solar cells were designed and simulated using PC1D program in two different models. Model 1 focuses on maximizing the efficiency of each subcell, while in model 2 we forced identical current flowing in each subcell. Simulations for both models were performed under ideal conditions of blackbody spectrum at T=6000 K (at the top of atmosphere) and solar intensity of 0.1367 W/cm2.. Our results show that model 1 produces efficiency up to 38.86% compared to 20.26% that produced by model 2. Keywords: Multijunction solar cell, Solar cell efficiency, III-V Semiconductors, Computer modeling and simulation PACS: 88.40.jp , 88.40.hj, 81.05.Ea, 07.05.Tp