Conversion efficiency of Si-InGaAs and GaAsP-Si-Ge lateral beam splitting photovoltaic devices

Abstract This paper deals with the development and characterization of two photovoltaic systemsbased on the lateral beam splitting principle, with components able to convert different spectral bandsof the solar radiation. One is based on a Si cell and a InGaAs photodiodecoupled through a long-pass dichroic filterwith 950 nm cut-off. A second system is working with a Si photodiodecoupled with Ge and a GaAsP photodiodesand two long-pass dichroic filtersof 600 nm and 950 nm cut-offin cascade. The systems have been tested under illumination with a Sun simulator and under direct solar radiation in various two-terminal configurations. The performance of the two systems have been compared in same illumination conditions. Both systems, as compared with the Si component alone, proved to significantly increase the photovoltaic performance, achieving at best a conversion efficiency of 20%, so almost doubling its efficiency in best cases.