Modeling nonuniform irradiance and chromatic aberration effects in a four junction solar cell using SPICE

Author

Sharma, Parmanand ; Wilkins, Matthew ; Schriemer, Henry ; Hinzer, Karin

Author_Institution

SUNLAB, Univ. of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

fYear

2014

fDate

8-13 June 2014

Firstpage

3293

Lastpage

3297

Abstract

A two-dimensional, distributed resistance model for a four junction solar cell is implemented in SPICE. Efficiency estimates for Gaussian irradiance profiles with different peak-to-average ratios (PAR) are determined via grid optimization at concentrations of 500, 1000 and 2000 suns. Optimizing finger spacing for a PAR of 6 improves cell efficiency by 1.8% (absolute) at 2000 suns compared to that observed from finger spacing optimized for a uniform illumination. To address the impact of chromatic aberration on cell efficiency, a CPV system is modeled in Zemax for a geometric concentration of 1250X. Using a finger spacing optimized for uniform irradiance at the average optical efficiency of 82%, the neglect of chromatic aberration was found to overstate system efficiency by 3% (absolute).

Keywords

SPICE; aberrations; power engineering computing; radiation effects; solar cells; 1250X; 2emax; CPV system; Gaussian irradiance profiles; PAR; SPICE; cell efficiency; chromatic aberration effects; distributed resistance model; efficiency 82 percent; finger spacing optimization; geometric concentration; grid optimization; junction solar cell; nonuniform irradiance modeling; peak-to-average ratios; two-dimensional model; Fingers; Integrated circuit modeling; Junctions; Lighting; Photovoltaic cells; Resistance; Sun; CPV; chromatic aberrations; distributed resistance model; four junction solar cell;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Photovoltaic Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2014 IEEE 40th

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PVSC.2014.6925639

Filename

6925639