Julio C. Rimada

Abstract: The quantum well solar cell (QWSC) is a novel device that has been proposed by Barnham and co-workers at Imperial College London. In this work, the quantum efficiency for AlGaAs/GaAs QWSC has been calculated and compared with available data from the group at Imperial College London. Quantum efficiency calculations will be presented and compared with experimental data for several AlGaAs/GaAs QWSC, obtaining good agreement. The photocurrent then is calculated from the quantum efficiency calculations and included in the J(V) relation to optimize the efficiency of AlGaAs/GaAs QWSC. It also shows that for a range of quantum well widths and barrier bandgaps the conversion efficiencies of the quantum well solar cell are higher than the corresponding homogeneous p-i-n solar cell. Our results give a broad representation of quantum well solar cell operation, and provide a profitable guide for designing and interpreting the performance characteristics of AlGaAs/GaAs QWSCs. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Abstract: The quantum efficiency and photocurrent for AlGaAs quantum well solar cell is calculated and compared with experimental results obtaining good agreement. The conversion efficiency as a function of Al composition in barriers and wells is presented showing that there is a wide range of Al composition barrier and Al composition well where the QWSC efficiency is always higher than corresponding homogeneous p-i-n cell without quantum wells. We also show that for up to 15 wells in the intrinsic region an efficiency enhancement for the QWSC over the baseline cell is obtained.