Temperature behavior of monofacial and bifacial silicon solar cells

Abstract

In addition to the front illumination, bifacial solar cells convert the Albedo radiation falling onto their rear surfaces and hence these devices have many interesting applications. It is a widespread assumption that, owing to the largely 'open' rear surface, bifacial cells absorb less infrared (IR) light and hence operate at lower temperatures compared to monofacial cells. In order to verify this assumption, the IR light absorption properties of bifacial and monofacial silicon solar cells are investigated and the correlation with the temperature behavior of the cells is shown. Furthermore, the device regions leading to the absorption of IR light are identified and the reasons for the observed temperature differences of the cells under specific operating conditions are discussed.