Simulation Study of Stacked Solar Cells: Enhancing Efficiency through Multilayer Design

Sandwiched or stacked solar cells hold significant promise for enhancing solar energy conversion efficiency by utilizing multiple semiconductor materials with different band gaps. Various studies have been conducted to improve the efficiency of solar cell devices using stacked or tandem structures. This paper presents a simulation study investigating the performance of stacked solar cells with various material combinations and layer thicknesses. The simulations were conducted using Lumerical FDTD to analyze the optical behavior of different structures. By stacking two solar cell materials and placing the transparent material on top, power can be increased if the spectra of the two materials complement each other. The model used in the study was tested in a simple experiment using colored, transparent acrylic to validate the proportionality between absorbed energy and the actual power harvested by a silicon solar panel. The key findings reveal that sandwiched structures can enhance light absorption across a broader wavelength range when the materials used are properly selected. Optimal material combinations, such as perovskite with GaAs-InAs, can significantly improve overall efficiency up to 82.16%. Although many fabrication aspects have not been accounted for in this study, these results provide valuable insights into the design of high-performance solar cells, paving the way for more efficient solar energy conversion.