Numerical analysis for high-efficiency GaAs solar cells fabricated on Si substrates

Abstract

This paper describes some recent developments in GaAs thin-film solar cells fabricated on Si substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and numerically analyzes them.GaAs solar cells with efficiency of more than 18% are successfully fabricated on Si substrates by reducing the dislocation density. Photovoltaic properties of GaAs/Si cells are analyzed by considering the effect of nonuniform dislocation distribution on recombination properties of GaAs thin films on Si substrates. Numerical analysis shows that the effect of majority-carrier trapping must be considered. High efficiency GaAs solar cells with total-area efficiency of over 20% on Si substrates can be realized if dislocation density can be reduced to less than 5×105 cm−2.