A Taxonomy for Three-Terminal Tandem Solar Cells

authored by

Emily L. Warren, William E. Mcmahon, Michael Rienäcker, Kaitlyn T. Vansant, Riley C. Whitehead, Robby Peibst, Adele C. Tamboli

Abstract

Tandem and multijunction solar cells offer the only demonstrated path to terrestrial 1-sun solar cell efficiency over 30%. Three-terminal tandem (3TT) solar cells can overcome some of the limitations of two-terminal and four-terminal tandem solar cell designs. However, the coupled nature of the cells adds a degree of complexity to the devices themselves and the ways that their performance can be measured and reported. While many different configurations of 3TT devices have been proposed, there is no standard taxonomy to discuss the device structure or loading topology. This Perspective proposes a taxonomy for 3TT solar cells to enable a common nomenclature for discussing these devices and their performance. It also provides a brief history of three-terminal devices in the literature and demonstrates that many different 3TT devices can work at efficiencies above 30% if properly designed.

External Organisation(s)

National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH)
Colorado School of Mines (CSM)

Type

Review article

Journal

ACS Energy Letters

Volume

5

Pages

1233-1242

No. of pages

10

ISSN

2380-8195

Publication date

10.04.2020

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Chemistry (miscellaneous), Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Fuel Technology, Energy Engineering and Power Technology, Materials Chemistry

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.0c00068 (Access: Closed)