Estimation of performance limit for bifacial single-junction solar cell

Abstract

Estimation of detailed balance limit is performed for bifacial single-junction solar cell. Under standard test conditions, the bifacial solar cells are described by blackbody with temperature of 298.15 K. The front illumination is standard air mass (AM)1.5G spectrum, while the back illumination is the effective albedo (RA) multiplying AM1.5G spectrum, where the RA is assumed to be spectrally independent. The (1 + RA) is defined as a ratio of (front irradiance + back irradiance) to front irradiance and varied from 1 (without back illumination) to 2. It is disclosed that the conversion efficiency of the bifacial solar cell in bandgap (Eg) range from 1.1 to 1.4 eV is slightly enhanced under the increase in the (1 + RA). Importantly, the maximum output power is significantly enhanced by twice as compared with the monofacial solar cell ((1 + RA) = 1). In addition, the tabulated values for the detailed balance limits of the bifacial solar cells with Eg from 0.9 to 2.0 eV are disclosed, providing the requirements to obtain their improved electrical output power experimentally to make the utilization of photovoltaic modules worldwide.