title: High efficiency thin-film crystalline Si/Ge tandem solar cell.
abstract: We propose and simulate a photovoltaic solar cell comprised of Si and Ge pn junctions in tandem. With an anti-reflection film at the front surface, we have shown that optimal solar cells favor a thin Si layer and a thick Ge layer with a thin tunnel hetero-diode placed in between. We predict efficiency ranging from 19% to 28% for AM1.5G solar irradiance concentrated from 1 approximately 1000 Suns for a cell with a total thickness approximately 100 microm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125, USA. greg.sun@umb.edu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Soref
mesh_terms: D003461:Crystallography / Q000379:methods; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004566:Electrodes; D004735:Energy Transfer; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005857:Germanium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D008027:Light; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012666:Semiconductors; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D012993:Solar Energy
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D005857:Germanium; D012825:Silicon