Study of the Thermal Behavior of Solar Cells Based on GaAs

N. Martaj[1,2], E. Guidicelli[2], Y. Cuminal[2], A. Perona[3], S. Pincemin[1,2]
[1]EPF-Ecole d’Ingénieurs, Montpellier, France
[2]IES, UMR5214, Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, France
[3]Laboratoire PROMES-CNRS Tecnosud, Rambla de la thermodynamique, Perpignan, France
Published in 2013

The paper studies the thermal modeling and simulation of photovoltaic cells suitable for use in highly concentrated solar flux (> 1000 suns). The cells studied are those of GaAs kind. These cells are a very good alternative to be studied instead of more complex multi junctions cells.

The objective is to find a simple and inexpensive way to remove heat from PV modules and to keep the electrical performance to an acceptable level. In order to quantify the heat loss in these cells, a numerical model was developed with COMSOL Multiphysics®. The results of the simulation are used to calculate the performance of these solar cells. These results of simulation will be confronted with experiment.