Characterization of a Si/InGaAs lateral beam splitting photovoltaic system

A cost-effective lateral beam splitting photovoltaic system coupling a Si cell and a InGaAs photodiode through a long-pass dichroic filter has been designed, manufactured and tested under illumination with a Sun simulator and direct solar irradiation. Two filters with different cut-off wavelengths have been considered: 950nm and 1100nm, best efficiencies are achieved with the 950nm cut-off one due to lower reflectance losses in the high energy spectral range. The system, read-out in two-terminal configuration both in parallel and in series, proved to double the efficiency of the Si cell alone in case of high air masses.