A micro-concentrator photovoltaic module incorporating a bifacial silicon solar cell for direct and diffuse light capture

• Published in: 2019 IEEE 46th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC) pp. 2528 - 2532
• Main Authors: Lumb, Matthew P., Meitl, Matt, Carter, Jim, Samarskiy, Miroslav, Burroughs, Scott, Schmieder, Kenneth J., Mood, Thomas C., Bennett, Mitchell F., Taploo, Anmol, Moore, James E., Scheiman, David, Armour, Eric, Fisher, Brent
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-06-2019
• Subjects: Gallium arsenide; Photovoltaic cells; Transfer printing
• DOI: 10.1109/PVSC40753.2019.8980829

In this paper, we report findings from a micro CPV module, employing 170 μm GaAs-based 2J CPV cells, assembled on glass substrates using micro-transfer printing. The CPV array uses all-glass lens arrays to focus the light with a geometric concentration ratio of 740 suns, and a bifacial, monocrystalline silicon solar cell behind the substrate to capture the diffuse component of the light. We found that the diffuse capture creates a significant performance boost over CPV alone, and study the role of bifacial capture on the overall performance. The highest combined efficiency with respect to global normal irradiance was 25.4% for the module, measured by outdoor testing in Washington, DC.