Open AccessSpectrum splitting metrics and effect of filter characteristics on photovoltaic system performance
Author(s) -
Juan M. Russo,
Deming Zhang,
Michael Gordon,
Shelby Vorndran,
YuanChun Wu,
Raymond K. Kostuk
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.22.00a528
Subject(s) - photovoltaic system , optics , band gap , energy conversion efficiency , filter (signal processing) , electronic engineering , optical filter , metric (unit) , spectral efficiency , materials science , computer science , optoelectronics , physics , telecommunications , engineering , electrical engineering , beamforming , operations management , computer vision
During the past few years there has been a significant interest in spectrum splitting systems to increase the overall efficiency of photovoltaic solar energy systems. However, methods for comparing the performance of spectrum splitting systems and the effects of optical spectral filter design on system performance are not well developed. This paper addresses these two areas. The system conversion efficiency is examined in detail and the role of optical spectral filters with respect to the efficiency is developed. A new metric termed the Improvement over Best Bandgap is defined which expresses the efficiency gain of the spectrum splitting system with respect to a similar system that contains the highest constituent single bandgap photovoltaic cell. This parameter indicates the benefit of using the more complex spectrum splitting system with respect to a single bandgap photovoltaic system. Metrics are also provided to assess the performance of experimental spectral filters in different spectrum splitting configurations. The paper concludes by using the methodology to evaluate spectrum splitting systems with different filter configurations and indicates the overall efficiency improvement that is possible with ideal and experimental designs.