Solar cells based on GaAs: Thermal behavior study

Abstract

Current CPV electricity costs are still higher than those of conventional PV (thin films or silicon). This is due to additional components (tracker, Fresnel lens, optical guide.) required for CPV and to a lesser extent, to the very high price of III-V multi-junction solar cells. One way to lower CPV costs is to reduce the size of solar cells and operate at higher concentration [1]. One of the main potential limitations for the use of PV cells at very high solar concentration is cell overheating. The goal of this work is to study and better understand the thermal behavior of PV cells in high solar concentrations conditions (∼ 2000 suns). For that purpose, we have designed and prepared PV cells with platinum resistors included. Temperature measurements performed on these cells in real solar concentration conditions have allowed us to validate thermal simulations of our devices that could be used to optimize the thermal management of the cell under high concentration.