Field Performance versus Standard Test Condition Efficiency of Tandem Solar Cells and the Specific Case of Perovskites/Silicon Devices

Olivier Dupre, Björn Niesen, Stefaan De Wolf, Christophe Ballif

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

Multijunction cells may offer a cost-effective route to boost the efficiency of industrial photovoltaics. For any technology to be deployed in the field, its performance under actual operating conditions is extremely important. In this perspective, we evaluate the impact of spectrum, light intensity, and module temperature variations on the efficiency of tandem devices with crystalline silicon bottom cells with a particular focus on perovskite top cells. We consider devices with different efficiencies and calculate their energy yields using field data from Denver. We find that annual losses due to differences between operating conditions and standard test conditions are similar for single-junction and four-terminal tandem devices. The additional loss for the two-terminal tandem configuration caused by current mismatch reduces its performance ratio by only 1.7% when an optimal top cell bandgap is used. Additionally, the unusual bandgap temperature dependence of perovskites is shown to have a positive, compensating effect on current mismatch.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)446-458
Number of pages13
JournalThe Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume9
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 11 2018

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: O.D. would like to thank Sarah Kurtz and Haohui Liu for kindly sharing their data. Special thanks also to Lionel Bloch for his help with big data management. This work was partially funded by the Nano-Tera.ch “Synergy” project, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy under Grant SI/501072-01, and the Swiss National Science Foundation via the NRP70 “Energy Turnaround” project “PV2050.

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