Ultra-High Efficiency, High-Concentration PV System Based On Spectral Division Between GaInP∕GaInAs∕Ge And BPC Silicon Cells

Abstract

A novel HCPV nonimaging concentrator concept with high concentration (>500×) is presented. It uses the combination of a commercial concentration GaInP/GaInAs/Ge 3J cell and a concentration Back‐Point‐Contact (BPC) concentration silicon cell for efficient spectral utilization, and external confinement techniques for recovering the 3J cell's reflection. The primary optical element (POE) is a flat Fresnel lens and the secondary optical element (SOE) is a free‐form RXI‐type concentrator with a band‐pass filter embedded it, both POE and SOE performing Köhler integration to produce light homogenization. The band‐pass filter sends the IR photons in the 900–1200 nm band to the silicon cell. Computer simulations predict that four‐terminal terminal designs could achieve ∼46% added cell efficiencies using commercial 39% 3J and 26% Si cells. A first proof‐of concept receiver prototype has been manufactured using a simpler optical architecture (with a lower concentration, ∼100× and lower simulated added efficiency), and experimental measurements have shown up to 39.8% 4J receiver efficiency using a 3J with peak efficiency of 36.9%.