Fluorescent concentrator stack with III-V solar cells

Fluorescent planar concentrator stacks combine the effect of light concentration and spectral splitting of the solar irradiation. III-V solar cells offer the possibility of spectrally matching the solar cell characteristics to the output spectrum of each individual concentrator in the stack. This paper describes the optimization and the experimental realization of a fluorescent planar concentrator/III-V solar cell system. The optimization was done with a Monte-Carlo simulation code which maximizes the electrical efficiency of the system by varying the type, number, sequence and concentration of dyes in the stack. The experimental realization was restricted to ordinary GaAs solar cells because the optimized III-V solar cells were not yet available.