Albedo‐Enabled Enhanced Energy Harvesting via GaAs Bifacial Thin‐Film Solar Cells

Autor: Zhang Xing, Seonghyun Nam, Dahee Kim, Yongmin Baek, Dohyun Kim, Youngseo Park, Hsin-Ying Lee, Ching-Ting Lee, Kyusang Lee, Junseok Heo
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Advanced Photonics Research, Vol 3, Iss 7, Pp n/a-n/a (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2699-9293
DOI: 10.1002/adpr.202100297
Popis: In addition to direct solar illumination to the photovoltaic cell, the albedo effect provides a unique opportunity to enhance energy harvesting. However, conventional solar cells are inefficient albedo energy harvesters because the rear side of the cell is usually blocked by a thick substrate or metal contact. In this study, structurally thin active layers of GaAs thin‐film solar cells covered with transparent Ag nanowires that enable bifacial solar cell operations are fabricated. The GaAs bifacial thin‐film solar cell is fabricated by bonding the active regions of the solar cell on colorless polyimide sheets with highly transparent epoxy adhesives. The fabricated bifacial solar cells without any anti‐reflection coatings demonstrated power conversion efficiencies of 8.54 and 6.78% at the front and rear sides, respectively, under AM 1.5 G irradiance conditions. The increase in energy harvesting by the GaAs bifacial thin‐film solar cells was estimated, which showed approximately a 72% increase in short‐circuit current density (JSC) when the solar cells operated on a high‐reflection‐coated ground. Positioning the solar cells on snow or sand (deserts and beaches) increased JSC by ≈44 and 31%, respectively, compared to monofacial solar cells.
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