Abstract
Balance-of-system costs now dominate the installed cost of photovoltaic systems, causing the annually averaged module efficiency to become a primary system cost driver. The resulting continued push towards higher module efficiencies, coupled with the dominance of single-axis tracking in the utility-scale PV market, may create an opportunity for a low-concentration tandem module technology. Here, we demonstrate such a tandem, using the “PVMirror” concept, on the mini-module scale. The tandem couples a (concentrating) silicon PVMirror having an aperture area of 156.25 cm2 with a gallium arsenide receiver to achieve 29.6% efficiency with respect to the outdoor global irradiance. Unlike most concentrating technologies, the silicon PVMirror collects some of the diffuse light, but the tandem would nevertheless achieve 31% efficiency in the absence of diffuse light, as in a laboratory measurement. The same tandem technology can be implemented with a wide-bandgap thin-film PVMirror and silicon receiver—a potentially cost-competitive combination—when efficient wide-bandgap cells have been developed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Journal | Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2019 |
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Keywords
- diffuse light
- gallium arsenide
- low concentration
- photovoltaic
- silicon tandem
- tandem
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Cite this
GaAs/silicon PVMirror tandem photovoltaic mini-module with 29.6% efficiency with respect to the outdoor global irradiance. / Yu, Zhengshan J.; Fisher, Kathryn C.; Meng, Xiaodong; Hyatt, Justin J.; Angel, J Roger P; Holman, Zachary C.
In: Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 01.01.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - GaAs/silicon PVMirror tandem photovoltaic mini-module with 29.6% efficiency with respect to the outdoor global irradiance
AU - Yu, Zhengshan J.
AU - Fisher, Kathryn C.
AU - Meng, Xiaodong
AU - Hyatt, Justin J.
AU - Angel, J Roger P
AU - Holman, Zachary C.
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Balance-of-system costs now dominate the installed cost of photovoltaic systems, causing the annually averaged module efficiency to become a primary system cost driver. The resulting continued push towards higher module efficiencies, coupled with the dominance of single-axis tracking in the utility-scale PV market, may create an opportunity for a low-concentration tandem module technology. Here, we demonstrate such a tandem, using the “PVMirror” concept, on the mini-module scale. The tandem couples a (concentrating) silicon PVMirror having an aperture area of 156.25 cm2 with a gallium arsenide receiver to achieve 29.6% efficiency with respect to the outdoor global irradiance. Unlike most concentrating technologies, the silicon PVMirror collects some of the diffuse light, but the tandem would nevertheless achieve 31% efficiency in the absence of diffuse light, as in a laboratory measurement. The same tandem technology can be implemented with a wide-bandgap thin-film PVMirror and silicon receiver—a potentially cost-competitive combination—when efficient wide-bandgap cells have been developed.
AB - Balance-of-system costs now dominate the installed cost of photovoltaic systems, causing the annually averaged module efficiency to become a primary system cost driver. The resulting continued push towards higher module efficiencies, coupled with the dominance of single-axis tracking in the utility-scale PV market, may create an opportunity for a low-concentration tandem module technology. Here, we demonstrate such a tandem, using the “PVMirror” concept, on the mini-module scale. The tandem couples a (concentrating) silicon PVMirror having an aperture area of 156.25 cm2 with a gallium arsenide receiver to achieve 29.6% efficiency with respect to the outdoor global irradiance. Unlike most concentrating technologies, the silicon PVMirror collects some of the diffuse light, but the tandem would nevertheless achieve 31% efficiency in the absence of diffuse light, as in a laboratory measurement. The same tandem technology can be implemented with a wide-bandgap thin-film PVMirror and silicon receiver—a potentially cost-competitive combination—when efficient wide-bandgap cells have been developed.
KW - diffuse light
KW - gallium arsenide
KW - low concentration
KW - photovoltaic
KW - silicon tandem
KW - tandem
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85060960028&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/pip.3095
DO - 10.1002/pip.3095
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85060960028
JO - Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
JF - Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications
SN - 1062-7995
ER -