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Numerical analysis and performance study of a double-heterojunction GaAs-based solar cell

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Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to present the fabrication of a flexible double-heterojunction gallium arsenide solar cell and analyse the photoelectric characteristics by experimental and numerical investigations. Remote epitaxy was used in addition to metal–organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) to fabricate the flexible GaAs thin film. The practical power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the fabricated double heterojunction was nearly 20%, as tested by a solar simulator at air mass global condition AM1.5G (1000 W/m2 insolation and 25 °C). The photoelectric characteristics, including the generation and recombination rates, band bending, carrier concentration and electric potential, were numerically investigated by COMSOL Multiphysics/Semiconductor Module. The experimental PCE was compared with the photovoltaic (PV) cell simulation data of 29% PCE using the MATLAB code/Newton–Raphson method. The comparison was not satisfactory, since the practical solar cell was exposed to high series resistance, which affected the PCE of the thin-film solar cell.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Malaysia, for their support through Seeding Fund Research Grant Code: U-TV-RD-20-10 and UNITEN R&D Sdn. Bhd. Malaysia. The authors would like to thank Jeehwan Kim and Hyunseok Kim at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, for providing test samples for measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang, 43000, Selangor, Malaysia

    Athil S. Al-Ezzi & M. N. M. Ansari

  2. Institute of Power Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Kajang, 43000, Selangor, Malaysia

    M. N. M. Ansari

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  1. Athil S. Al-Ezzi
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Conceptualization, A.S.A.-E., M.N.M.A.; writing—original draft preparation, A.S.A.-E.; writing—review and editing, A.S.A.-E., M.N.M.A.; resources and funding acquisition, M.N.M.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to M. N. M. Ansari.

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Al-Ezzi, A.S., Ansari, M.N.M. Numerical analysis and performance study of a double-heterojunction GaAs-based solar cell. J Comput Electron (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-023-02126-5

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