Gallium Arsenide Solar Panel Efficiency

Gallium arsenide solar cells.

Gallium arsenide solar panel efficiency. This is a superior property of gallium arsenide. Alta devices makes solar panels using gallium arsenide cells a more efficient material than the generally cheaper silicon based cells. Taken together they are the largest representation of solar in space occupying enough area to cover most of a football field. In a recent article in the magazine electronic news gallium arsenide was tested on a germanium substrate.

As a runner up multi junction cells made of gallium arsenide and similar materials resist degradation better than silicon and are the most efficient cells currently made with energy conversion efficiencies up to 34. The resulting efficiency level was 24 9 for a single junction. Adding that one layer of the gallium arsenide phosphide can really boost efficiency of the solar cell but because of the unique ability to etch away the silicon germanium and reuse it the cost is kept low because you can amortize that silicon germanium cost over the course of manufacturing many cells fitzgerald adds. Gaas solar cells can harness more sunlight than silicon based solar cells because they are made using a soft and silvery metal which can also be found in electronic circuits semiconductor materials and light emitting diodes.

The first known operational use of gaas solar cells in space was for the venera 3 mission launched in 1965. Gallium arsenide solar cells are up to 45 efficient at harvesting energy from the sun where quality solar cells are currently around 17 20 efficient. Actual size of a 2kw gallium arsenide super cell is approx. Gallium arsenide solar cells can reach a top efficiency of 27 80.

10cm x 15cm shown above next to a business card. This makes them a good candidate for a stacked type of solar panels used for collecting light from all across the spectrum. Filling a market gap. Gallium arsenide solar cells can have roughly 25 efficiency rating with only one junction.

One of the great advantages of gallium arsenide is that the theoretical efficiency is high almost twice as high as that of crystalline silicon. However this technology is some of the most expensive solar tech. Solar cells and detectors gallium arsenide is an important semiconductor material for high cost high efficiency solar cells and is used for single crystalline thin film solar cells and for multi junction solar cells. Gallium arsenide multi junction and other advanced technologies could be the next generation.

When it comes to the efficiency of the photovoltaic industry it is inseparable from theoretical efficiency and mass production efficiency. The best monocrystalline solar cells on the market today can reach an efficiency of about 26 10. The same company has now set an efficiency record for an entire solar panel at 23 5 percent.