Printing-based assembly of quadruple-junction four-terminal microscale solar cells and their use in high-efficiency modules.
Expenses associated with shipping, installation, land, regulatory compliance and on-going maintenance and operations of utility-scale photovoltaics can be significantly reduced by increasing the power conversion efficiency of solar modules through improved materials, device designs and strategies for light management. Single-junction cells have performance constraints defined by their Shockley-Queisser limits. Multi-junction cells can achieve higher efficiencies, but epitaxial and current matching requirements between the single junctions in the devices hinder progress. Mechanical stacking of independent multi-junction cells circumvents these disadvantages. Here we present a fabrication approach for the realization of mechanically assembled multi-junction cells using materials and techniques compatible with large-scale manufacturing. The strategy involves printing-based stacking of microscale solar cells, sol-gel processes for interlayers with advanced optical, electrical and thermal properties, together with unusual packaging techniques, electrical matching networks, and compact ultrahigh-concentration optics. We demonstrate quadruple-junction, four-terminal solar cells with measured efficiencies of 43.9% at concentrations exceeding 1,000 suns, and modules with efficiencies of 36.5%.
1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA [2].
Xing
X
Sheng
1] Semprius, Durham, North Carolina 27713, USA [2].
Christopher A
CA
Bower
Semprius, Durham, North Carolina 27713, USA.
Salvatore
S
Bonafede
Semprius, Durham, North Carolina 27713, USA.
John W
JW
Wilson
Semprius, Durham, North Carolina 27713, USA.
Brent
B
Fisher
Semprius, Durham, North Carolina 27713, USA.
Matthew
M
Meitl
Solar Junction, San Jose, California 95131, USA.
Homan
H
Yuen
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Shuodao
S
Wang
Department of Physics, College of Sciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221116, China.
Ling
L
Shen
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Anthony R
AR
Banks
Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Christopher J
CJ
Corcoran
1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA [2] Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Ralph G
RG
Nuzzo
Semprius, Durham, North Carolina 27713, USA.
Scott
S
Burroughs
1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA [2] Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
John A
JA
Rogers