Browsing by Author "Wang, Yi-Chin"

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Photon recycling characteristics of InGaAs/GaAsP multiple quantum well solar cells incorporating a spectrally selective filter and distributed Bragg reflector
(2019-12-09)
Hong, Chung-Yu
;
Wang, Yi-Chin
;
Su, Yu-Chih
;
Tsai, Jia-Ling
;
Tung, Chao-Ming
Photon management plays a vital role in the power conversion efficiency of III-V semiconductor solar cells. However, the photon recycling characteristics of GaAs-based multi-quantum-well (MQW) solar cells employed different optical designs had yet been fully explored. In this work, we investigate the impact of the spectrally selective filter (SSF) and distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) on the photovoltaic characteristics of single-junction, strain-balanced In0.1Ga0.9As/ GaAs0.85P0.15 MQW solar cells. Specifically, the SSFs with cutoff wavelengths of 880, 910, and 940 nm are designed and implemented on MQW solar cells with and without the incorporation of a rear DBR. Photon confinement in the vertical direction is verified based on the characterizations of reflectance, electroluminescence, and external quantum efficiency. We show that the photon confinement reduces the saturation current density, up to 26 times and 3 times for the 880 nm SSF-MQW and SSF-MQW-DBR devices, respectively, compared to that of the 940 nm devices. Furthermore, by comparing the SSF-MQW-DBR solar cells under simulated one-sun and concentrated illumination conditions, the open-circuit voltage exhibits a maximal net increase for the 910 nm SSF due to tradeoff between the short-circuit and saturation current density. The proposed SSF design may offer a viable approach to boost the performance of GaAs-based MQW solar cells. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement
Photovoltaic Characteristics of GaAs Solar Cells with Selective Filters
(2015)
Hong, Chung-Yu
;
Hung, Mu-Min
;
Yang, Tung-Ting
;
Wang, Yi-Chin
;
Lin, Yu-Chen
Enhancing the photon recycling process in a solar cell can boost the open-circuit voltage (V-oc). In this work, we employ a selective filter realized by alternative TiO2 and SiO2 dielectric layers with different cutoff wavelengths as the front surface structures, and a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) grown by epitaxy on the rear side of GaAs solar cells to form an optical cavity. The idea is to suppress the radiative recombination emission loss at the material bandgap toward the front and rear side by increasing photon-recycling via a cavity design with minimal auxiliary impact on light current. From our experiment, when cut-off wavelength was designed at 840nm, the V-oc of the cell increase by 1.1mV compared with the device without the selective filter. Moreover, we successfully developed an optical model that combines a rigorous couple wave analysis (RCWA) and photon recycling calculation NREL developed recently to quantify the V-oc enhancement from different optical design on GaAs solar cells. Based on theoretical optimizations of the experimental data, if we can optimize the back DBR reflector or using metal as the back mirror, we can obtain a large V-oc enhancement by 36.4mV using the selective filter with a cut-off wavelength of 840 nm. However, although we can use selective filter as top structure to improve the V-oc, the power conversion efficiency is still limited due to the implementation of selective filters has affected light absorption at the desired spectral range. Nevertheless, this concept of light management may be further improved by using angular filters in order to prevent the loss of light current while improving the V-oc and power conversion efficiency at the same time.
Photovoltaic Characteristics of Multiple Quantum Well Solar Cells with Distributed Bragg Reflector and Selective Filters
(2016-01-01)
Hong, Chung-Yu
;
Wang, Yi-Chin
;
Hung, Mu-Min
;
Su, Yu-Chih
;
Tsai, Jia-Ling
We investigate the photon recycling characteristics of single junction solar cells incorporating 50-pairs multiple quantum wells (MQW) to exploit the high radiative recombination rate in one-dimensional carrier-confinement structures. In particular, we systematically compare solar cells with monolithically grown distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), as well as selective filters (SFs) with cutoff wavelengths of 880, 910, and 930 nm under standard and concentrated illumination conditions. Optical confinement in the vertical direction is verified based on the reflective spectra and electroluminescence properties. Consequently, the photo-recycling effect manifests under concentrated conditions, where the maximal open circuit voltage difference, by 12mV under 200x illumination, is achieved for MQW solar cells incorporating both the DBR and the 910-nm-cutoff SF, compared to those without the DBR or SFs. It is also revealed that the fill factor (FF) is also affected by the photon recycling effect, where incorporating SF results in the FF enhancement compared to the counterpart without the SF and the enhancement is higher for those with DBRs than without the DBRs.