Internal reflection influence on the multiple quantum well solar cell efficiency

The Multiple Quantum Well Solar Cell (MQWSC) consists of a quantum well system placed in the undoped region of a p-i-n solar cell. Despite an abundance of reports on MQWSC modeling, most of them are not addressing photon reflection at barrier-well interfaces. This paper evaluates the reflection influence on MQWSC conversion efficiency. For this, a realistic model for internal reflection in MQW system is derived and inserted into an ideal electro-optical MQWSC model. Our results based on numerical simulations substantiate that MQWSC efficiency decays significantly when reflection is considered. Thus, our model dealing with non-ideal structures is intended to be a tool to investigate cell optical parameters and to optimize the conversion efficiency.