High-Efficiency homojunction GaAs solar cell using InGaP as FSF and AlGaInP as BSF

Abstract

A simulation study has been carried out to optimize the performance of homojunction GaAs solar cells by introducing p-InGaP as the FSF layer and n-AlGaInP as the BSF layer using the SILVACO simulator. The simulation starts with a basic cell configured with a p-GaAs emitter and n-GaAs base layers. Then p-InGaP FSF layer is introduced individually, where its doping concentration and thickness are optimized, followed by introducing the n-AlGaInP BSF layer separately that is also optimized, and finally, studying the impact of using both p-InGaP and n-AlGaInP layers together. The results show that the efficiency of the basic cell is 7.82%, for the basic cell with p-InGaP layer is 21.09%, for the basic cell with n-AlGaInP layer is 16.09%, and for the optimum cell with FSF and BSF layers is 30.88%. The increase in efficiency of the cell with p-InGaP and n-AlGaInP layers is attributed to the increase of photon absorption and photogeneration rates through the cell. Based on these results, using a combination of InGaP as FSF and AlGaInP as BSF would be promising for enhancing the performance of GaAs solar cells.