2021/02/20 by Filipe Martinho, Martinho, Filipe
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Perovskite Materials and Applications #Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices #solar cell performance optimization
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2102.10427
openalex publication_date 2021/02/20 · openalex created_date 2022/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
As the photovoltaic sector approaches 1 TW in cumulative installed capacity,\nwe provide an overview of the current challenges to achieve further\ntechnological improvements. On the raw materials side, we see no fundamental\nlimitation to expansion in capacity of the current market technologies, even\nthough basic estimates predict that the PV sector will become the largest\nconsumer of Ag in the world after 2030. On the other hand, recent market data\non PV costs indicates that the largest cost fraction is now infrastructure and\narea-related, and nearly independent of the core cell technology. Therefore,\nadditional value adding is likely to proceed via an increase in energy yield\nmetrics such as the power density and/or efficiency of the PV module. However,\ncurrent market technologies are near their fundamental detailed balance\nefficiency limits. The transition to multijunction PV in tandem configurations\nis regarded as the most promising path to surpass this limitation and increase\nthe power per unit area of PV modules. So far, each specific multijunction\nconcept faces particular obstacles that have prevented their upscaling, but the\nfield is rapidly improving. In this review work, we provide a global comparison\nbetween the different types of multijunction concepts, including III-Vs,\nSi-based tandems and the emergence of perovskite/Si devices. Coupled with\nanalyses of new notable developments in the field, we discuss the challenges\ncommon to different multijunction cell architectures, and the specific\nchallenges of each type of device, both on a cell level and on a module\nintegration level. From the analysis, we conclude that several tandem concepts\nare nearing the disruption level where a breakthrough into mainstream PV is\npossible.\n