PV converter with greenhouse filter for laser power beaming

Numerous applications, such as robotics and optical networking, can be significantly enhanced by laser power beaming. The proposed PV converter comprises a semiconductor n-p junction cell with back surface reflector and front surface “greenhouse” filter, which traps long wavelength photons with energies below the energy of optical quanta. The greenhouse filter significantly reduces the emission from the device and increases the conversion efficiency. The efficiency improvement is limited by the nonradiative recombination. The greenhouse effect is reduced if nonradiative recombination dominates over the radiative recombination. Taking into account nonradiative recombination and photon leakage of the filter, we investigate photocarrier kinetics and photon management to optimize GaAs PV device architecture, doping, and photon trapping. We also experimentally investigate the greenhouse effect on the dark current characteristics, the short circuit voltage, and efficiency of the PV converter for laser power beaming.