Current-matched triple-junction solar cell reaching 41.1% conversion efficiency under concentrated sunlight

A metamorphic Ga0.35In0.65P/Ga0.83In0.17As/Ge triple-junction solar cell is shown to provide current-matching of all three subcells and thus composes a device structure with virtually ideal band gap combination. We demonstrate that the key for the realization of this device is the improvement of material quality of the lattice-mismatched layers as well as the development of a highly relaxed Ga1−yInyAs buffer structure between the Ge substrate and the middle cell. This allows the metamorphic growth with low dislocation densities below 106 cm−2. The performance of the approach has been demonstrated by a conversion efficiency of 41.1% at 454 suns (454 kW/m2, AM1.5d ASTM G173–03).