Solar cells for NASA RAINBOW concentrator

The RAINBOW concentrator system is based on a concept of splitting the solar spectrum and focussing each portion on a solar cell having a bandgap matching the input spectral portion. Efficiencies over 40% are predicted for systems using a four-bandgap cell assembly under 20/spl times/ concentration....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Smith, M.A., Sinharoy, S., Weizer, V.G., Khan, O., Pal, A., Clark, E.B., Wilt, D.M., Scheiman, D.A., Mardesich, N.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Gallium arsenide
Indium gallium arsenide
Indium phosphide
Materials testing
NASA
Optical arrays
Optical filters
Photonic band gap
Photovoltaic cells
Solar power generation
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Summary:The RAINBOW concentrator system is based on a concept of splitting the solar spectrum and focussing each portion on a solar cell having a bandgap matching the input spectral portion. Efficiencies over 40% are predicted for systems using a four-bandgap cell assembly under 20/spl times/ concentration. Reported here are the results of materials growth, processing, and testing of four different solar cells designed to populate the RAINBOW testbed, under development at JPL. The cells are 0.74-eV InGaAs on lattice-matched InP, 1.1-eV InGaAs on lattice-mismatched GaAs, 1.43-eV GaAs on GaAs, and 1.85-eV InGaP on lattice-matched GaAs. Quantum efficiencies between 0.8 and 1.0 have been realized for the spectral region from 0.5 to /spl sim/1.5 /spl mu/m.
ISSN:0160-8371
DOI:10.1109/PVSC.2000.916088