Silicon Sub-Cells for III-V/Silicon Based Multi-junction Solar Cells

Competitive advantage

• World-leading expertise in silicon solar cells
• Unique knowledge of Passivated Emitter Rear Local diffusion (PERL) and related silicon solar cell designs and processing requirements
• Expertise in the preparation of silicon structure for III-V growth processes preserving silicon performance
• Patented room temperature contacting technique to simplify processing
• Design and optimisation capability for silicon sub-cells including detailed device modelling, and expertise in additive optical path length enhancement techniques

Impact

• First group to investigate the design requirements for a silicon solar cell with grown III-V material as top junction
• Part of team that holds the current two junction III-V/silicon multi-junction world record for one sun illumination

Successful applications

• Successfully determined robust process for preserving silicon minority carrier lifetimes during III-V growth
• Used modelling and experimental work to determine the key device features to ensure high performance silicon sub-cells
• Produced the first III-V/silicon multi-junction solar cells with optical path length enhancement schemes integrated

Capabilities and facilities

• Full silicon solar cell processing capability including emitter and back surface diffusions, controlled surface texturing and advanced metallisation
• Additive optical path length enhancement techniques developed at UNSW
• Multi-junction solar cell characterisation including spectral response

Our partners

• SolAero, USA