Modeling of InGaN/Si tandem solar cells

We investigate theoretically the characteristics of monolithic InGaN/Si two-junction series-connected solar cells using the air mass 1.5 global irradiance spectrum. The addition of an InGaN junction is found to produce significant increases in the energy conversion efficiency of the solar cell over that of one-junction Si cells. Even when Si is not of high quality, such two-junction cells could achieve efficiencies high enough to be practically feasible. We also show that further, though smaller, improvements of the efficiency can be achieved by adding another junction to form an InGaN/InGaN/Si three-junction cell. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.