An improved model to predict thermal runaway in concentrator III-V multi-junction solar cells

作者:Lv, Hui; Huang, Wenjuan; Cheng, Chunfu*; Ou, Yiwen; Liao, Jun; Su, Yuehong; Riffat, Saffa
来源:International Journal of Low Carbon Technologies, 2018, 13(4): 432-437.
DOI:10.1093/ijlct/cty043

摘要

Thermal runaway is a serious problem leading to the sudden death of solar cells connected in parallel in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules when those cells are not protected by string diodes. In this paper, an improved thermal runaway model is proposed with consideration of temperature dependence of external quantum efficiency (EQE), short-circuit current and diode behavior. Based on this model, the influence of key parameters, such as concentration ratio (CR), the number of solar cells connected in parallel, the shaded area of the solar cell, air mass and aerosol optical depth on the thermal runaway effect in CPV modules, has been analyzed. For a given CR, the maximum number of parallel-connected solar cells is determined in order to avoid the sudden death of the shaded solar cell.