Determination of individual I(V) characteristics of each sub-cell of a triple junction device

Christophe Longeaud; José Alvarez; Herinirina Fanevamampiandra; Thomas Bidaud; Gwenaëlle Hamon; Maxime Darnon; Marie-Estelle Gueunier-Farret

doi:10.1051/epjpv/2023011

2022 Impact factor 2.5

Special Issue on ‘Recent Advances in Spectroscopy and Microscopy of Thin-films Materials, Interfaces, and Solar Cells 2021', edited by A. Vossier, M. Gueunier-Farret, J.-P. Kleider and D. Mencaraglia

Open Access

EPJ Photovoltaics 14, 20 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjpv/2023011

Regular Article

Determination of individual I(V) characteristics of each sub-cell of a triple junction device

Christophe Longeaud¹^*, José Alvarez¹, Herinirina Fanevamampiandra¹^,2^,3, Thomas Bidaud²^,3, Gwenaëlle Hamon²^,3, Maxime Darnon²^,3 and Marie-Estelle Gueunier-Farret⁴

¹ Laboratoire de Génie Electrique et Electronique de Paris (Geeps), CNRS, CentraleSupelec, Université Paris-Saclay, Sorbonne Université, 11 rue Joliot Curie, 91190 Gif sur Yvette, France
² Laboratoire Nanotechnologies Nanosystèmes (LN2) – CNRS IRL-3463, Institut Interdisciplinaire d'Innovation Technologique, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
³ Institut Interdisciplinaire d’Innovation Technologique (3IT), Université de Sherbrooke, 3000 Boulevard Université, Sherbrooke, J1K 0A5 Québec, Canada
⁴ Université de Bordeaux, IMS-CNRS, UMR 5218, Bordeaux INP, ENSCBP, 33405 Talence, France

^* e-mail: christophe.longeaud@geeps.centralesupelec.fr

Received: 3 January 2023
Received in final form: 31 January 2023
Accepted: 9 May 2023
Published online: 16 June 2023

Abstract

Very high conversion efficiency is reached with triple junction solar devices integrated in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules. However, reduction of the active area for micro-CPV applications increases the perimeter/area ratio, enhancing losses linked to the edges. It is therefore important to characterize the perimeter influence on the final conversion efficiency. For this purpose, I(V) characterization under dark and/or light could be used as a test of the sidewalls influence. We have designed an experiment to perform I(V) curves using the light of three lasers with adjustable powers at 405, 785, and 980 nm, preferentially absorbed by the top, middle or bottom junction of the device, respectively. This experiment was applied to commercial devices made from a stack of GaInP/GaAs/Ge. In parallel we have developed a numerical calculation modeling the device to reproduce the behaviors observed during I(V) experiments. Junction parameters and influence of leakage resistances are deduced from the fit of experimental results with the numerical calculation. The I(V) experiment as well as the numerical calculation are presented in details. It is also underlined that, combining both experiment and calculation, the I(V) characteristic of each junction as if it was isolated can be determined.

Key words: Triple junction device / Sub-cell I-V characteristics / Leakage resistances / Open-circuit voltage / Short-circuit current

© C. Longeaud et al., Published by EDP Sciences, 2023

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.