An experimental and theoretical study on the temperature dependence of GaAs solar cells

In this paper the temperature-dependent behavior of GaAs single-junction solar cells is studied using both experimental and simulation tools. A cryostat is used to allow measurements of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) and IV curve at different temperatures with the corresponding experimental setup at Fraunhofer ISE. Two different GaAs single-junction solar cell structures are characterized in a wide temperature range between 203 K and 398 K. Through numerical modeling of the GaAs solar cells in a semiconductor simulation environment a deeper understanding of the cells' temperature-dependent behavior is obtained. A good correlation between measurement and simulation results is achieved.