A Computational Study on Performance Analysis of Different Types of Tandem Solar Cells

Bibhuti Bhusan Nayak* and Tardup Lepcha
Mechanical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology Sikkim, India
*Corresponding Author: Bibhuti Bhusan Nayak, National Institute of Technology Sikkim, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ravangla, Sikkim, India.

Published: October 16, 2024

DOI: 10.55162/MCET.07.237

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Abstract  

The operating temperature of photovoltaic cells is an important parameter that influences their conversion efficiency. High operating temperatures greatly determine the maximum output power for the same conditions of solar radiation. In this paper a numerical approach have been conducted on a tandem solar cell of area 50x50 mm² so as to analyse the temperature variation of a solar cell kept in a tandem. This paper includes three tandem solar cells with different combinations of the top cell and bottom cell. A detailed study of thermal analysis on various type of tandem solar cells is carried out in the hilly regions. The tandem solar cells considered are mono- crystalline silicon-MAPbI₃ tandem, mono-crystalline silicon-MAPbBr₃ tandem and MAPbI₃ - MAPbBr₃ tandem. The trend in temperature variation with time is witnessed wherein the temperature difference between the top cell and bottom cell is also observed. The efficiency of the cells are calculated individually and the efficiency of the tandem is also calculated. The thermo physical property values used in the paper like thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and density were collected and chosen from different papers mentioned in the reference. All the calculation’s data that is the temperature, input power and the efficiency of tandem solar cell is with respect to the solar irradiation for the coordinate 88.6138 °E, 27.3314 °N GMT +5:30. The solar power and efficiency for different tandem cells has been compared for the whole day starting from 10 AM to 5 PM for a week. From the study the maximum power conversion efficiency obtained for MAPbI₃ - MAPbBr₃ tandem is 43.78% and minimum for silicon-MAPbI₃ tandem is 35.25%. The average power obtained highest for MAPbI₃ - MAPbBr₃ is 55.79W and lowest for silicon-MAPbI₃ tandem is 45.08W. The solar flux intensity is gradually increases and then decreases from 10 AM to 5 PM, the peak value of 908 W/m² is obtained at 11 AM of the day.

Keywords: Mono-crystalline silicon-MAPbI₃ tandem; silicon-MAPbBr₃ tandem; MAPbI₃ - MAPbBr₃ tandem solar cells; Power conversion efficiency; thermal analysis; simulation

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