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Degradation study of III–V solar cells for concentrator applications
Author(s) -
van Riesen S.,
Bett A. W.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
progress in photovoltaics: research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.286
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1099-159X
pISSN - 1062-7995
DOI - 10.1002/pip.603
Subject(s) - degradation (telecommunications) , concentrator , materials science , tandem , aluminium , accelerated aging , layer (electronics) , optoelectronics , composite material , optics , electrical engineering , engineering , physics
AlGaAs/GaAs heteroface solar cells with a high aluminium content tend to degrade. The degradation mechanism has been examined and appropriate accelerated ageing procedures have been established. They effectively test the ruggedness of the device against oxidation. Changing the window layer material to (Al x Ga 1− x ) 0.51 In 0.49 P with x = 0, 0.5 or 1 leads to stable devices. In addition, III–V tandem solar cells for concentrator applications were subjected to accelerated ageing tests. They proved to be robust against oxidation. The potential degradation due to the high current density involved in concentrator solar cells was assessed in preliminary experiments. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.