Table 1.
Solar cell designs in order of increasing yearly energy yield
| Junctions | Suns | kWh m−2 year−1 | Ef. (%) | Std. Ef. (%) | Rec. (%) | Gaps (eV) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Diffuse | 1 | 106.3 | 27.76 | — | — | 1.42 Diffuse light only |
| 1 Si | 1 | 617.7 | 25.87 | 26.98 | 26.7 | 1.12 Gap not optimal, EQE = 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 648.2 | 27.14 | 27.84 | 28.8 | 1.35 ERE = 0.2 |
| 2 | 1 | 758.0 | 31.81 | 33.39 | 32.8 | 1.13, 1.69 |
| 1 + 1 | 1 | 792.6 | 33.26 | 34.32 | 32.8 | 1.13, 1.81 |
| 3 | 1000 | 805.5 | 41.56 | 44.31 | 44.4 | 0.95, 1.35, 1.82 |
| 3 HG | 1 | 830.6 | 34.78 | 36.88 | 33.3 | 1.12, 1.48, 1.94 |
| 3 | 1 | 849.3 | 35.63 | 37.65 | 37.9 | 0.95, 1.38, 1.86 |
| 4 | 1000 | 856.6 | 44.19 | 47.15 | 46.0 | 0.74, 1.14, 1.48, 1.91 |
| 5 HG | 1000 | 870.4 | 44.90 | 47.71 | — | 0.94, 1.18, 1.44, 1.71, 2.09 |
| 2 + 2 | 1000 | 879.6 | 45.38 | 47.56 | — | 0.73, 1.14, 1.54, 1.97 |
| 5 | 1000 | 884.1 | 45.61 | 49.11 | — | 0.72, 1.02, 1.29, 1.61, 2.01 |
| 6 | 1000 | 911.6 | 47.03 | 50.19 | — | 0.70, 0.98, 1.21, 1.46, 1.74, 2.11 |
| 3 + 3 | 1000 | 939.8 | 48.48 | 51.21 | — | 0.71, 1.00, 1.25, 1.56, 1.83, 2.19 |
| Bi + 2 | 1 | 1007.9 | 36.00 | 37.62 | 35.9 | 1.12 + 1.58, 2.02 |
| Bi + 5 HG | 1000 | 1116.8 | 44.90 | 47.71 | — | 1.12 + 0.94, 1.18, 1.44, 1.71, 2.09 |
Mechanical stacking is denoted by a plus sign
Ef. is the yearly averaged efficiency, Rec. is the experimental record efficiency17, HG is the high band gap local efficiency maximum, Bi is the energy yield of concentrator modules including bifacial silicon solar cells in the back of the module for collecting diffuse and albedo irradiance20