In this work, microscopic three-dimensional simulations were performed on nanowire array solar cells to study the impact of surface recombination (SR) on the photovoltaic performance. Both axially and radially arranged p-n junction in III-V-based structures were taken into consideration. From the cases with SR velocity varying from 1e3 cm/s to 1e6 cm/s , the radial p-n-junction nanowire was found to provide better tolerance for SR. The SR difference within the axial and radial p-n-junction structures is explained by analyzing the relevant minority carrier density, followed by a discussion on the impact of SR on the diffusive nature of minority carriers.
In this work, microscopic three-dimensional (3D) simulations were performed on nanowire array solar cells to
study the impact of surface recombination on the photovoltaic performance. Both axially and radially arranged
p-n junction in III-V based structures were taken into consideration. From the cases with surface recombination
velocity varying from 1e3cm/s to 1e6cm/s, the core-shell nanowire was found to provide better tolerance for
surface recombination. The difference of surface recombination within the axial and core-shell structures is
explained by analyzing the relevent minority carrier density, followed by a discussion on the impact of surface
recombination on the performance of nanowires as photovoltaic devices.
We extend the well-known Shockley-Queisser detailed balance calculation for determining the efficiency limit of
a solar cell to the case of strong local deviations of the optical power absorption as present in nano-structured
photovoltaic devices. In addition, the simple assumption of perfect absorption of all incident light exceeding the
bandgap is refined.
We present a modified Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit calculation for nano-structured photovoltaic devices,
it incorporates a rigorous wave optics calculation and spatially resolved generation of electron-hole pairs. We
apply this method to core-shell single-junction InP nanowire array for the use in concentrator solar cells. We
investigate the efficiency limits regarding the arrangement of the active regions within the wire. Our results
indicate that in a nanowire array solar cell with low volume fill factor the efficiency limit can approach the values
of planar thin-film devices. This observation indicates the occurrence of micro-concentration and underlines the
necessity of a wave optics approach. The spatially and spectrally resolved analysis shows that generation on
the surface of the nanowires is considerable, particularly with regard to high energy photons. Therefore, it is
necessary to efficiently extract those carriers.
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