Research

Since the beginning of 1970s photovoltaics has become the main field of his interest. Technology of high efficiency radiation resistant AlGaAs/GaAs solar cells were developed at first by V. Andreev in the 1969-1970. 

  In the 1980s-1990s laboratory's team continued extensive studies of heterostructure solar cells for space and terrestrial applications, which resulted in the development of high-efficient solar cells operating under concentrated solar radiation. This work has been carried out in co-operation with Russian Space Agency, Institute de Energia Solar (Madrid), Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Freiburg), European Space Agency and NASA Glenn Research Center. 

  The efficiency of the newly developed solar cells approached the theoretical limit. Confirmed efficiencies of 24.7% (AMO, 100 suns), and 27.6% (AM1.5, 140 suns) were achieved in 1993-94. Radiation resistance increase has been achieved in the developed AlGaAs/GaAs solar cells with internal Bragg reflector owing to enhancement of long-wavelength photosensitivity in the irradiated solar cells. High concentration solar cells with confirmed AM1.5D efficiency of 26.2% at 1000 suns and 25% at 2000 suns were achieved in cooperation with Prof. C.Algora’s team from Instituto de Energia Solar. Efficiency of 23% was received in very-high concentrator (5800 suns) solar cells designated for operation with ultra-high-flux concentrators. Concentrator tandem stacks based on GaAs (top) and InGaAs or GaSb (bottom) cells with efficiencies of 28-29% (AM0, 20-100 suns) and 32-33% (AM1.5D, 100-300 suns) as well as the high-efficiency space and terrestrial concentrator modules and autonomous photovoltaic installations with these tandems were developed in the last years. All these results are among of the best in the world. 

  High-power photoconverters for laser-power beaming with efficiency of 60%, high-speed and low-noise heterostructure photodetectors for IR, visible and UV spectral regions, photoreceivers for simultaneous conversions of power and information transferred by means of laser beam, and long-life tritium-powered betacells and batteries have been developed by Photovoltaics Laboratory last decade as well. Recently, the investigations in the field of thermophotovoltaic generation of electricity have been carried out. TPV cells based on narrow bandgap III-V semiconductors (GaSb, InGaAs, InGaAsSb) with external quantum efficiency of about 95% in IR-part of spectrum were developed as well as the advanced fuel-fired TPV generators based on these cells were designed and fabricated. These devices are high-efficient, light weight, silent and low-cost co-generators of heat and electricity.