Stacked, monolithic, upright metamorphic, terrestrial concentrator solar cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024258450-A1
Application number	US-202418635804-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 15, 2024
Priority date	Mar 22, 2019
Publication date	Aug 1, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

A stacked, monolithic, upright metamorphic, terrestrial concentrator solar cell having exactly five subcells and having a metamorphic buffer, wherein a first subcell has a first lattice constant G1 and consists essentially of germanium, a second subcell has a second lattice constant and GaInAs, a third subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and AlGaInAs, a fourth subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and InP, a fifth subcell has the second lattice constant G2 and InP, G1<G2 applies to the lattice constants, the metamorphic buffer is arranged between the first subcell and the second subcell and has the first lattice constant G1 on a bottom side facing the first subcell and the second lattice constant G2 on a top side facing the second subcell, and all of the semiconductor layers of the concentrator solar cell arranged above the first subcell are epitaxially produced on the preceding subcell.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A stacked, monolithic, upright metamorphic, terrestrial concentrator solar cell comprising:
exactly five subcells; and a metamorphic buffer, wherein a first subcell has a first lattice constant and a first band gap and consists essentially of germanium, wherein a second subcell is arranged above the first subcell and has a first second lattice constant and a second band gap, and comprises GaInAs or consists essentially of GaInAs, wherein a third subcell is arranged above the second subcell and has the second second lattice constant and a third band gap, and comprises AlGaInAs or consists essentially of AlGaInAs, wherein a fourth subcell is arranged above the third subcell and has the third second lattice constant and a fourth band gap, and comprises InP, wherein a fifth subcell is arranged above the fourth subcell and has the fourth second lattice constant and a fifth band gap, and comprises InP, wherein the first band gap is less than the second band gap which is less than the third band gap which is less than the fourth band gap which is less than fifth band gap, wherein the first lattice constant is less than the first, second, third, and fourth second lattice constants, wherein the metamorphic buffer is arranged between the first subcell and the second subcell and has the first lattice constant on a bottom side facing the first subcell and has the first second lattice constant on a top side facing the second subcell, wherein all semiconductor layers of the concentrator solar cell arranged above the first subcell are epitaxially produced on a preceding subcell, wherein the fifth subcell comprises a base layer and an emitter layer, and consists essentially of AlInGaP, with an aluminum content less than 25% and an indium content greater than 63%, based on group III elements, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth second lattice constants differ from one another by less than 0.2%, wherein any of the first, second, third, and fourth second lattice constants is greater than 5.72·10 −10 m, and wherein the fifth subcell has a band gap less than 1.98 eV and greater than 1.74 eV.

2 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein the fourth subcell has GaInP or consists essentially of GaInP.

3 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 2 , wherein the fourth subcell have an aluminum content, based on the group III elements, of 0% or less than 5% or less than 1%.

4 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein a layer thickness of the second subcell and/or a layer thickness of the third subcell is greater than 1 μm and less than 5 μm.

5 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein a layer thickness of the fourth subcell and/or a layer thickness of the fifth subcell is greater than 100 nm and less than 500 nm or less than 1.5 μm.

6 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein the metamorphic buffer has a sequence of at least three and at most ten layers and/or that the metamorphic buffer has a layer thickness of at least 0.5 μm and at most 4 μm.

7 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein the second subcell has a band gap greater than 1.07 eV and/or an indium content less than 24.5%.

8 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein the third subcell has a band gap between 1.34 eV and 1.45 eV or between 1.3 eV and 1.5 eV.

9 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein the fourth subcell has a band gap between 1.61 eV and 1.69 eV or between 1.58 eV and 1.72 eV.

10 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein the concentrator solar cell has a window layer, wherein the window layer is arranged above the fifth subcell and has a lattice constant that is at least 0.5% or at least 0.7% lower than the fourth second lattice constant.

11 . The concentrator solar cell of claim 1 , wherein
the metamorphic buffer has a sequence of layers, and a lattice constant of the metamorphic buffer increases starting from a lowest layer of the sequence with the first lattice constant to an uppermost layer of the sequence with the first second lattice constant.

12 . The concentrator solar cell of claim 11 , wherein the lattice constant of the metamorphic buffer increases from layer to layer.

13 . The concentrator solar cell of claim 1 , wherein
the metamorphic buffer has a sequence of layers, and a lattice constant of the metamorphic buffer first increases starting from a lowest layer of the sequence and then decreases from layer to layer, or first decreases and then increases.

14 . The concentrator solar cell of claim 1 , wherein
the metamorphic buffer has a sequence of layers, the sequence of layers of the metamorphic buffer comprises more than three semiconductor layers, and a lattice constant of the metamorphic buffer increases from layer to layer starting at a lowest layer of the sequence up to a maximum and then decreases from layer to layer up to the first second lattice constant at an uppermost layer of the sequence.

15 . The concentrator solar cell of claim 1 , wherein a tunnel diode is arranged between the first subcell and the second subcell.

16 . The concentrator solar cell of claim 1 , wherein a corresponding tunnel diode is arranged between each two successive subcells of the concentrator solar cell.

17 . The concentrator solar cell of claim 16 , wherein the tunnel diode arranged between the first subcell and the second subcell is arranged below the metamorphic buffer.

18 . The concentrator solar cell of claim 1 , wherein the metamorphic buffer has a dopant concentration greater than 5·10 17 1/cm 3 .

19 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 ,
wherein the fifth subcell is formed as a heterocell, and wherein an aluminum content of the base layer of the fifth subcell is higher than an aluminum content of the emitter layer of the fifth subcell.

20 . The concentrator solar cell according to claim 1 , wherein a layer thickness of the third subcell is greater than 1 μm and less than 5 μm.

Assignees

• Azur Space Solar Power Gmbh

Inventors

• Fuhrmann Daniel
• Guter Wolfgang
• Meusel Matthias

Classifications

• H10F77/1248

  having three or more elements, e.g. GaAlAs, InGaAs or InGaAsP · CPC title

• H10F10/19

  Photovoltaic cells having multiple potential barriers of different types, e.g. tandem cells having both PN and PIN junctions · CPC title

• H10F10/13

  Photovoltaic cells having absorbing layers comprising graded bandgaps · CPC title

• H10F77/14

  Shape of semiconductor bodies; Shapes, relative sizes or dispositions of semiconductor regions within semiconductor bodies · CPC title

• H10F77/16

  Material structures, e.g. crystalline structures, film structures or crystal plane orientations · CPC title