The design and numerical analysis of tandem thermophotovoltaic cells

• Published in: Chinese physics B 2013-10, Vol.22 (10), p.598-603
• Main Author: 杨皓宇 刘仁俊 王连锴 吕游 李天天 李国兴 张源涛 张宝林
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atlas软件; Electric potential; GaSb; Homojunctions; Numerical analysis; Photons; Radiators; Thermophotovoltaics; Tunnel junctions; Voltage; 串联; 光电池; 叠层电池; 数值分析; 最大输出功率; 设计
• ISSN: 1674-1056; 2058-3834; 1741-4199
• DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/22/10/108402

In this paper, numerical analysis of GaSb （Eg = 0.72 eV）/Gao.84Ino.16Aso.14Sbo.86 （Eg = 0.53 eV） tandem thermopho- tovoltaic （TPV） cells is carried out by using Silvaco/Atlas software. In the tandem cells, a GaSb p-n homojunction is used for the top cell and a GalnAsSb p-n homojunction for the bottom cell. A heavily doped GaSb tunnel junction connects the two sub-cells together. The simulations are carried out at a radiator temperature of 2000 K and a cell temperature of 300 K. The radiation photons are injected from the top of the tandem cells. Key properties of the single- and dual-junction TPV cells, including I-V characteristic, maximum output power （Pmax）, open-circuit voltage （Voc）, short-circuit current （/~sc）, etc. are presented. The effects of the sub-cell thickness and carrier concentration on the key properties of tandem cells are investigated. A comparison of the dual-TPV cells with GaSb and GalnAsSb single junction cells shows that the Pmax of tandem cells is almost twice as great as that of the single-junction cells.