For this, the researchers are replacing the conventional triple-junction solar cell – which consists of semiconductors from groups III and V of the periodic system – with a new four-junction device.
Two dual-junction cell structures are first grown on separate III-V compound semiconductor substrates and then fused together so efficiently that the interface promotes the current flow through the four-junction solar cell device. Multi-junction solar cells are used in concentrator PV power plants, said Frauenhofer.
“We are very pleased about the success of a 43.6 % cell which we were able to reach due to the wafer bonding technology,” said Dr. Frank Dimroth, Department Head of III-V Epitaxy and Solar Cells at Fraunhofer ISE in Freiburg, Germany.
“For the first time, we can combine the best III-V compound materials in one solar cell device. This leads us into a new generation of multi-junction solar cells showing outstanding efficiency potential,” added Dimroth.
“Now we are able to combine lattice mismatched crystals which with conventional technology cannot be grown on top of each other without deteriorating material quality,” he said.
Wafer bonding refers to a technology where two different semiconductor crystals are brought into close contact to each other and compressed to form covalent bonds at the interface. This technology is a key expertise of the French company Soitec and the development partner CEA-Leti, said Frauenhofer ISE.
It has been used for decades in manufacturing engineered substrates for the microelectronics industry. Soitec and CEA-Leti have adapted the processes to meet the specific requirements of solar cells. These are namely mechanical stability, optical transparency and electrical conductivity of the bond interface.
The result of this French-German collaboration is a four-junction solar cell device with an outstanding efficiency of 43.6% at a concentration level of 319 suns. The efficiency remains above 43% in a concentration range of 250-500 suns. It is the first time that such a high efficiency is obtained for a solar cell with four pn-junctions in series. The further development of this new four-junction solar cell offers the opportunity to improve conversion efficiencies even further to 50% in the future.
The application for these high efficiency multi-junction solar cells is primarily in photovoltaic concentrator modules of the company Soitec.
In 2009, the company acquired the former Concentrix Solar GmbH, a spin-off of Fraunhofer ISE. Since then, Fraunhofer ISE has supported Soitec in the development of high efficiency solar cells and point-focus concentrator PV modules. This technology is used worldwide in solar power plants in regions with high solar irradiance, said the research company.
”Concentrator photovoltaics constantly improves in conversion efficiency and therefore lowers area-related costs,” said Prof. Eicke Weber, Director of Fraunhofer ISE.
“The new solar cells with their new process technology and outstanding efficiency potential will make an important contribution to the success of concentrator photovoltaics,” he added.
Further reading
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