CPV solar cell modeling and metallization optimization

Deepak K. Gupta*, Marco Barink, Matthijs Langelaar

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)
31 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) has recently gained popularity due to its ability to deliver significantly more power at relatively lower absorber material costs. In CPVs, lenses and mirrors are used to concentrate illumination over a small solar cell, thereby increasing the incident light by several folds. This leads to non-uniform illumination and temperature distribution on the front side of the cell, which reduces performance. A way to limit this reduction is to optimize the metallization design of the solar cell for certain non-uniform illumination and temperature profiles. Most of the existing metallization optimization methods are restricted to the conventional H-pattern, which limits the achievable improvements. Topology optimization alleviates such restrictions and is capable of generating complex metallization patterns, which cannot be captured by the traditional optimization methods. In this paper, the application of topology optimization is explored for concentrated illumination conditions. A finite element model that includes all relevant resistances combined with topology optimization method is presented and the applicability is demonstrated on non-uniform illumination and temperature profiles. The finite element model allows accurate modeling of the current density and voltage distributions. Metallization designs obtained by topology optimization significantly improve the power output of concentrating solar cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)868-881
JournalSolar Energy
Volume159
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care

Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

  • Concentrated photovoltaics
  • Concentrating solar cells
  • Finite element model
  • Illumination
  • Metallization
  • Non-uniform
  • Optimal design
  • Temperature profile
  • Topology optimization

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