Solar cell designs by maximizing energy production based on machine learning clustering of spectral variations

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 5126 - 8
• Main Authors: Ripalda, J M, Buencuerpo, J, García, I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 03.12.2018; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Albedo; Artificial intelligence; Clustering; Computing time; Efficiency; Irradiance; Learning algorithms; Machine learning; Maximization; Optimization; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaics; Solar cells; Solar energy; Spectral sensitivity
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07431-3

Due to spectral sensitivity effects, using a single standard spectrum leads to a large uncertainty when estimating the yearly averaged photovoltaic efficiency or energy yield. Here we demonstrate how machine learning techniques can reduce the yearly spectral sets by three orders of magnitude to sets of a few characteristic spectra, and use the resulting proxy spectra to find the optimal solar cell designs maximizing the yearly energy production. When using standard conditions, our calculated efficiency limits show good agreement with current photovoltaic efficiency records, but solar cells designed for record efficiency under the current standard spectra are not optimal for maximizing the yearly energy yield. Our results show that more than 1 MWh m  year can realistically be obtained from advanced multijunction systems making use of the direct, diffuse, and back-side albedo components of the irradiance.