Project #D2021-04
Invention Description
The University of Toledo has developed a new tandem solar cell design — the bifacial tandem (Fig. 1) that enabled the first realization of a working monolithic tandem solar cell comprising wide-bandgap metal halide perovskite and narrow-bandgap cadmium selenide telluride (CdSeTe, or CST). The bifacial strategy is the key innovation since it enables efficient perovskite-CST tandem solar cells while harvesting the reflected and deflected light from the ground. Therefore, this technology is critical to developing low-cost, efficient, and stable monolithic bifacial perovskite-CST tandem thin-film solar modules. Based on theoretical calculation (Fig. 2), the monolithic bifacial tandem design can boost the output power density limit of conventional CST solar modules by up to 50% with a light color concrete ground (albedo = 0.1 to 0.3). Our proof-of-concept bifacial tandem device shows an equivalent bifacial efficiency of more than 20% with an open-circuit voltage of more than 2 V. Implementation of our monolithic bifacial tandem design could result in the overall efficiency enhancement, leading to a reduced $/W cost for the current CST photovoltaic technology.
Advantages
IP Status: Patent pending