NREL Measures IMM Solar Cell Performance for CPV (Fact Sheet), NREL Highlights, Science

New measurement capability supports the development of high-efficiency solar cells for concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) application. NREL scientists recently completed a set of measurements on the performance of an inverted metamorphic multijunction (IMM) solar cell as a function of concentration and cell operating temperature. The triple-junction cell had subcell bandgaps of 1.81, 1.40, and 1.00. Much of the work focused on developing and validating the measurement techniques (i.e., the spectral response of the three subcells was measured at five temperatures, and those data were used to properly adjust the solar simulators at each temperature). Multijunction concentrator solar cells are typically evaluated under flash illumination at 25 C, but this condition significantly underestimates the thermal load on the cell in an actual real-world module, where the steady-state concentrated illumination can raise the operating temperature to as high as 100 C. The NREL-developed measurement technique addresses this issue. This work demonstrated that the IMM cell has better temperature coefficients than its traditional upright, germanium-based, lattice-matched counterpart and will thus perform better in actual CPV applications. This new measurement capability will support NREL's development of IMM cells that are optimally designed for operation at temperatures relevant to actual systems operation