High efficiency Al/sub 0.32/Ga/sub 0.68/As-GaAs tandem solar cells with three terminals

Mayet, L.; Gavand, M.; Montegu, B.; Laugier, A.

doi:10.1109/pvsc.1988.105772

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…However, several authors reported effects resulting from resistive coupling of top and bottom cell in a mid‐contacted 3T cell architecture (as shown in Figure B and C). This is consistent with our observation for a 3T‐IBC bottom cell that a voltage difference Δ V IBC,FB arises between the two base contacts accompanied by a power density loss Δ P 3T,mpp,total .…”

Section: Model For a 3t Bottom Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The model introduced so far (with R IBC = 0 and R FB = 0) in Figure 6A is intuitive and therefore commonly used for mid-contacted 3T tandem solar cells, 25,28,34,35,39 as shown in Figure 6B,C (with R IBC = 0 and R FB = 0). The BJT solar cell, which has the same architecture as reported earlier by several authors, [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]41 was modeled by Martí and Luque using Ebers-Moll model 54 and turns out to be still describable by Figure 6C (without resistors). Figure 6B and 6C).…”

Section: Equivalent Circuit Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A less common approach, the three‐terminal (3T) tandem cell with a middle electrode (Figure D), has been proposed by several authors for different combinations of subcells . While several publications utilize the 3T device to probe and match the currents of 2T tandems, almost all of them recognized that adding a third mid‐contact to a 2T tandem eliminates the need for current‐matching.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 A less common approach, the three-terminal (3T) tandem cell with a middle electrode ( Figure 1D), has been proposed by several authors for different combinations of subcells. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] While several publications utilize the 3T device to probe and match the currents of 2T tandems, almost all of them recognized that adding a third mid-contact to a 2T tandem eliminates the need for current-matching. A mid-contacted 3T tandem enables a monolithic tandem solar cell, which combines the monolithic design of 2T tandems and the flexibility of 4T tandem cells.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Back‐contacted bottom cells with three terminals: Maximizing power extraction from current‐mismatched tandem cells

Rienäcker

Warren

Schnabel

et al. 2019

Progress in Photovoltaics

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Multi‐junction cells can significantly improve the energy yield of photovoltaic systems over a single‐junction cell. The internal interconnection scheme of the subcells is an important aspect in determining the resulting levelized cost of electricity. For a dual‐junction cell, two approaches are commonly discussed: series‐connected tandem cells with two terminals or independently working subcells in a four‐terminal (4T) tandem device. In this paper, we explore the working principle and the operation modes of a third, rarely discussed option: a three‐terminal (3T) tandem cell using a back‐contacted bottom cell with 3Ts. We use current–voltage measurements of illuminated 3T interdigitated back contact cells and confirm that the front and rear base contacts are at similar quasi‐Fermi level positions, which enables the bottom cell to either efficiently collect surplus carriers, in the case of a current‐limiting or carrier injecting top cell, or inject majority carriers, in the case of a current‐limiting bottom cell. As a result, no current matching is needed. The power output of an idealized 3T bottom cell without resistive effects is independent of the current density applied from the top cell. These characteristics of the 3T bottom cells enable a 3T tandem to operate as efficiently as a 4T tandem, while being compatible with monolithic design and not requiring intermediate grids. We propose a simple equivalent circuit model including additional resistive effects, which describes a real 3T bottom cell and achieves excellent agreement to the experiment. We deduce design guidelines for a 3T bottom cell in different operation regimes.

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Section: Model For a 3t Bottom Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%