High-voltage thin-absorber photovoltaic device structures for efficient energy harvesting

Efficient photovoltaic energy harvesting requires device structures capable of absorbing a wide spectrum of incident radiation and extracting the photogenerated carriers at high voltages. In this paper, we review the impact of active layer thickness on the voltage performance of GaAs-based photovoltaic device structures. We observe that thin absorber structures can be leveraged to increase the operating voltage of energy harvesting devices. Thin absorbers in combination with advanced light trapping structures provide an exciting pathway for enhancing the performance of flexible, lightweight photovoltaic modules suitable for mobile and portable power applications.