Study of deep level defects in InGaP/InGaAs-GaAsP/InGaAsN quantum well based multi-junction solar cell using finite element analysis.

Degradation analysis of a quantum well-dilute nitride based multi-junction solar cell is presented using a 2D numerical device simulator: APSYS. By taking carrier removal effects into consideration, the proposed device exhibits strong electric field uniformity within the intrinsic region of the p-i-n middle cell. The electron traps are defined in the top InGaP and bottom InGaAsN base region considering 1 MeV electron irradiation in geostationary orbits. Considering thermionic emission, tunneling and SRH lifetime an effective lifetime value of 16.7 ps is considered in the middle MQW region. A record efficiency value of 38% and 44% is obtained at 1-sun and 500-sun AM0 spectrum respectively. The same efficiency value dropped by 4% by introducing a realistic SRV (1 × 104 cm s−1) and trap concentration values (1 × 1016 cm−3). Finally, we illustrate the influence of traps and lifetime on overall cell J sc , V oc , η, and power density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]