New approaches for high-efficiency solar cells. Final report

Abstract

This report summarizes the activities carried out in this subcontract. These activities cover, first the atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) growth of GaAs, AlGaAs and InGaP at fairly low growth temperatures. This was followed by using ALE to achieve high levels of doping both n-type and p-type required for tunnel junctions (Tj) in the cascade solar cell structures. Then the authors studied the properties of AlGaAs/InGaP and AlGaAs/GaAs tunnel junctions and their performances at different growth conditions. This is followed by the use of these tunnel junctions in stacked solar cell structures. The effect of these tunnel junctions on the performance of stacked solar cells was studied at different temperatures and different solar fluences. Finally, the authors studied the effect of different types of black surface fields (BSF), both p/n and n/p GaInP solar cell structures, and their potential for window layer applications. Parts of these activities were carried in close cooperation with Dr. Mike Timmons of the Research Triangle Institute.