Engineering >> Electrical Engineering

Electrical Efficiency of a GaAs Solar Cell

by Elsa Wright

 

Submitted : Spring 2012


Solar cells convert light energy from photons into electrical energy in the form of electrons. The energy available in photons varies with wavelengths of different intensities. The quantum efficiency, or measure of the ratio of electrons produced to photons available, can be measured to observe what wavelengths give the maximum quantum efficiency. With this data, the electrical efficiency of a cell can be calculated, or the ratio of current produced by the cell to what could potentially be produced if every photon was converted to an electron.

Using a given table of data to calculate quantum efficiency, Microsoft Excel was used in order to find other data sets and produce a value for electrical efficiency of the newly developed GaAs solar cell. The conclusion drawn from this process is that the GaAs solar cell is 23.4% efficient.


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Advisors :
Scott Rimbey, Mathematics and Statistics
Scott Campbell, Chemical & Biomedical Engineering
Suggested By :
Scott Campbell