Thermodynamic limits on multigap photovoltaic cells: Design mismatch for a varying meteorological environment

Abstract

The actual performance of series-connected photovoltaic multigap cells may substantially deviate from the design point performance. The influence of variations in cell temperature, solar irradiance, and its spectral distribution on thermodynamically ideal cells with one to five gaps is assessed. It is found that multigap cells behave equally sensitive to average meteorological conditions as one-gap cells. When exposed to direct radiation only, the performance of multigap cells can decrease strongly for extreme conditions; however, generally these conditions give such small output that they do not significantly decrease the energy yield.