A high throughput, linear molecular beam epitaxy system for reduced cost manufacturing of GaAs photovoltaic cells: will GaAs ever be inexpensive enough?,Sustainable Energy & Fuels

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A high throughput, linear molecular beam epitaxy system for reduced cost manufacturing of GaAs photovoltaic cells: will GaAs ever be inexpensive enough?
Sustainable Energy & Fuels ( IF 5.0 ) Pub Date : 2020-02-17 , DOI: 10.1039/c9se01255a
Byungjun Lee _{1,

2,

3,

4} , Dejiu Fan _{1,

2,

3,

4} , Stephen R. Forrest _{1,

2,

3,

4,

5}

Affiliation

Solar cells based on GaAs and related compounds provide the highest reported efficiency single junction and multijunction solar cells. However, the cost of the cells is prohibitive when compared with Si and other thin film solar technologies. One significant differentiator is the high cost required to grow the epitaxial layers. Here, we propose a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system design that has the potential to increase the epitaxial layer growth throughput, thereby significantly reducing production costs. A rack-and-pinion based linear transfer system sequentially transfers multiple substrate platens between interconnected growth positions within the chamber, thereby synchronously growing layers on many wafers in the desired order and at the required thicknesses. The proposed linear MBE platform is the basis for a realistic analysis of GaAs single junction photovoltaic cell production cost. Our model projects a nearly 55% cost reduction in epitaxial growth via linear MBE when compared to conventional MBE, and a 85% reduction when further process optimization is assumed and combined with non-destructive epitaxial lift off. Even when considering all of these factors in an optimistic light, the cost of unconcentrated GaAs solar cells using any existing growth process is unlikely to drop below $3 per Wp in the foreseeable future.

中文翻译：

用于降低GaAs光伏电池制造成本的高通量线性分子束外延系统：GaAs会足够便宜吗？

基于GaAs和相关化合物的太阳能电池提供了报道效率最高的单结和多结太阳能电池。但是，与Si和其他薄膜太阳能技术相比，电池的成本高得令人望而却步。一个显着的区别是生长外延层所需的高成本。在这里，我们提出了一种分子束外延（MBE）系统设计，该系统设计有可能增加外延层的生长通量，从而显着降低生产成本。基于齿条齿轮的线性传输系统在腔室内互连的生长位置之间顺序传输多个基板压板，从而以所需的顺序和所需的厚度同步生长许多晶圆上的层。提出的线性MBE平台是真实分析GaAs单结光伏电池生产成本的基础。我们的模型预计外延生长将成本降低近55％与传统的MBE相比，通过线性MBE可以降低成本，而如果进一步进行工艺优化并与无损外延剥离相结合，则可以降低85％。即使从乐观的角度考虑所有这些因素，在可预见的将来，使用任何现有增长工艺的未集中式砷化镓太阳能电池的成本也不太可能降至3美元/ Wp以下。

更新日期：2020-02-17

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